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NCP distances itself from Suresh Kalmadi’s event
NCP distanced itself from Pune Festival, whose president is tainted Pune MP Suresh Kalmadi. However, Kalmadi and NCP maintained that it was not a boycott on the part of NCP.
Updated : Sep 22, 2012, 07:17 PM IST
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Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Friday distanced itself from Pune Festival, whose president is tainted Pune MP Suresh Kalmadi. However, Kalmadi and NCP maintained that it was not a boycott on the part of NCP.
While the festival’s chief coordinator Krushnakant Kudale had announced last week that PWD minister Chhagan Bhujbal would inaugurate the festival and BJP deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde would preside over the inaugural function, Bhujbal was conspicuous by her absence at the event. Instead , Munde inaugurated the festival. City mayor Vaishali Bankar had already informed the organisers that she would not attend the inauguration due to prior commitments.
Kalmadi said that even though Bhujbal’s name was announced, it doesn’t figure in Friday’s advertisement in newspapers. He said that NCP supremo Sharad Pawar has convened a meeting of party leaders in Mumbai and that is the reason Bhujbal missed the festival.
NCP state spokesperson Ankush Kakade said, “It is not NCP’s boycott. On the contrary, we did not get invitation for the inaugural function. Kalmadi celebrates this festival by collecting money through his own efforts and it is his programme. Bhujbal had to attend the meeting in Mumbai.”
While reacting to the fact that none of the NCP leaders barring Kudale attended the inaugural function, minister for cooperation Harshavardhan Patil said, “This event is apolitical and has added to Pune’s reputation at the national level. There should not be politics involved in this kind of celebrations.” RPI leader Ramdas Athavale said, “One can understand differences between Kalmadi and Ajit Pawar, but Bhujbal should have attended it.”
He said that it would be wrong to say that NCP had boycotted the festival.
Inaugurating the festival, Munde said, “The citizens of Pune should take care of students from northeastern states who exhibited their culture through dance performance.”
Revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat, minister for employment guarantee scheme Nitin Raut, minister for forests Patangrao Kadam and Shiv Sena MP from Shirur Shivajirao Adhalrao-Patil were also present.
