Maharashtra: Sharad Pawar invites Eknath Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar for lunch at Baramati residence

livemint.com:

Baramati. Therefore, I would like to extend the invitation for the meal at my residence after the event along with his other Cabinet colleagues." Shinde along with his deputies Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar are scheduled to attend a job fair, 'Namo Maharojgar Melava', in the premises of Vidya Pratishthan college in Baramati town of Pune district. Sharad Pawar's surprise invitation to Shinde and the two deputy chief ministers came in the backdrop of a split in the NCP, a party founded by him in 1999.

He has strained ties with his nephew and Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar — who parted ways with his uncle and joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in July last year. Ajit Pawar's faction of the NCP was declared the “real NCP faction" by the Election Commission and the Maharashtra Speaker earlier this month. Besides, speculations are rife that Ajit Pawar is thinking of fielding a candidate for the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency, news agency PTI reported.

This seat is currently represented by his cousin and Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule. In the invitation (which is part of a letter dated February 28) extended to Shinde, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, Sharad Pawar stated that as parliamentarians, he and Sule would like to attend the official event in Baramati. The Rajya Sabha MP, in the letter addressed to Shinde, said as president of Vidya Pratishthan, he would be glad to welcome CM Shinde on the premises of the educational institute.