PM Modi is slated to inaugurate Pune Metro stretches on two corridors at 11.30 am today (Sunday). (Express/Ashish Kale) WHILE PRIME Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Pune city on Sunday to inaugurate the 12-km stretch of the Pune Metro, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray decided to stay away from the mega event. Sena’s mouthpiece, Saamna, has also completely blacked out the event as it made no mention of the PM slated to inaugurate the Metro rail service.
While the Shiv Sena cited no reason for his skipping the event, party leaders said the CM wants to send out a strong message to the PM that “whatever his government is doing against Sena and MVA leaders, he has not liked it.”
PM Modi inaugurated the Pune Metro stretches on two corridors at 11.30 am on Sunday. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Urban Development Department Minister Eknath Shinde, who is a Sena leader, attended the inauguration ceremony.
When asked about the CM staying away from the event, Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut said, “The CM skipped the event, but sent our minister Eknath Shinde. In the absence of the CM, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar represented the government.”
When asked whether the CM had travel restrictions post his surgery last year, Raut said, “I don’t know whether this was the reason. I am not the government spokesperson. This is something which the government should clarify.”
Sena leaders claimed the CM did not want to share the dais with PM Modi since his government is targeting the party leaders through investigating agencies. “When Sena leaders are being harassed brazenly by the Modi government through agencies like ED, the CM sharing the dais with the PM is like giving sanctity to the Centre’s actions. The CM wants to express his anger at whatever the Modi government is doing,” a senior Sena leader close to Thackeray said.
Another Sena leader said, “The Modi government’s relations with all non-BJP governments are deteriorating by the day. For this, no one else can be blamed than the Prime Minister himself. He is leading a government that is targeting opposition leaders through the central agencies. The CM has done the right thing by skipping the event.”
While the Sena mouthpiece, Saamana, carried a full front-page advertisement released by the BJP about the inauguration of the event, the newspaper, however, did not carry a word about it in its news column.
However, last week, Ajit Pawar said that the Chief Minister had been invited to the event. “But it will all depend on whether he is in a position to travel post his surgery.”
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