Pawar Sr felicitates Shinde, both trade compliments in Delhi

The camaraderie between NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde was hard to miss in New Delhi on Tuesday, as Shinde was felicitated by Pawar at a function.

- Yogesh Naik

MUMBAI:

Shinde - who split the Shiv Sena and pulled down Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of which Pawar was the architect - and the NCP-SP chief heaped praise on each other.

Shinde was felicitated with an award named after one of the great generals of the Maratha empire, General Mahadji Shinde, in the presence of Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, a descendant of the 18th century general.

Speaking at the event, Eknath Shinde, chief of the Shiv Sena, said Pawar had never bowled him a googly and hoped he wouldn't in the future.

The bonhomie comes at a time when the BJP and Shinde are locked in a power struggle in the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance government in Maharashtra. Moreover, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has been regularly entertaining leaders from the opposition Shiv Sena (UBT), making Shinde very uncomfortable. Shinde is also unhappy as Fadnavis has started tightening his grip on the Mahayuti government, leaving little scope for him to assert his authority.