Patna: Squarely blaming the Shiv Sena for the dramatic turn of events in Maharashtra, Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Saturday urged NCP chief Sharad Pawar to walk over to the NDA camp, hinting that he might be rewarded with a plum portfolio at the Centre.
He said Pawar should also consider backing his rebellious nephew Ajit Pawar - sworn in as the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra.
"Sharad Pawar, too, should consider revising his stance and joining the NDA. He may get some good portfolio at the Centre," Athawale said when asked about the difficulty the NCP faction headed by Ajit Pawar might face in engineering a split before the floor test on November 30.
Athawale, who heads the RPI a Maharasthra-based pro-Dalit outfit was here to attend a function in his capacity as the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment in the Narendra Modi government.
The month-long political impasse in Maharashtra ended dramatically on Saturday with the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Fadnavis returning as the chief minister, backed by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administered the oath to Fadnavis and Pawar at the Raj Bhavan in Mumbai around 7.30 am.
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New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday paid homage to those killed in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919, and said their sacrifice stands as a powerful reminder of the indomitable spirit of the people of India.
Modi also said the saga of those killed in the massacre, their indomitable courage and self-respect against the barbarity of foreign rule will continue to inspire every generation of the nation.
"On this day, we pay our heartfelt homage to the brave martyrs of Jallianwala Bagh. Their sacrifice stands as a powerful reminder of the indomitable spirit of our people. The courage and determination they displayed continue to inspire generations to uphold the values of liberty, justice and dignity," Modi said in a post on X.
Hundreds of people protesting peacefully against the Rowlatt Act, which granted the
colonial administration repressive powers, were gunned down by British forces without any provocation on this day in 1919 at a garden in Amritsar.
While the official figure put the number of dead at 379, freedom movement leaders had claimed that several hundreds more died in the firing.
