The NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar ignored the BJP invitation and stayed away from visiting the memorial of RSS founder K B Hedgewar and second ‘sarsanghchalak’ MS Golwalkar in Reshimbaug here on Tuesday. The invitation was extended by the Bharatiya Janata Party to its ruling alliance partners Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP on Monday. Ministers and MLAs belonging to the BJP visit the memorial of Hedgewar and Golwalkar every year during the winter session of the state legislature. On Tuesday morning, several leaders of the BJP, state ministers and legislators visited the Hedgewar Smruti Mandir.
Speaking to reporters on the premises of Vidhan Bhavan here, MLC Amol Mitkari, who belongs to the Ajit Pawar camp, said, ‘’It is our right to not go there and pay a visit. It is the prerogative of every party on whether to visit a particular place or not’’. ‘’It is true that the NCP was invited by the BJP but no one went there,’’ said a party functionary. Leaders from the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, including state school education minister Deepak Kesarkar, party legislators Bharat Gogawale and Manisha Kayande among others, also paid tributes at the memorial.
Hedgewar Smruti Mandir is located in Reshimbaug and the Sangh headquarters is in the Mahal area of Nagpur. In a letter sent to all ministers and legislators from Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar faction, BJP legislature party’s chief whip Ashish Shelar stated that attendance is mandatory.
A senior leader of the Ajit Pawar faction had said deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar has a scheduled interaction with editors of local newspapers at 8 am on Tuesday, and, therefore, is unlikely to be part of the RSS memorial visit.
Incidentally, Pawar, after joining the state government in July this year, has repeatedly claimed he will not give up his secular credentials.