Pune: Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar in a last-minute development on Sunday cancelled his scheduled public rally in Purandar and travelled to Mumbai instead for a meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah. The move comes against the backdrop of both NCP and Shiv Sena in the Mahayuti alliance nominating candidates for the Purandar seat in the upcoming assembly election. Ajit Pawar was scheduled to address his first public meeting for his party's candidate, former IAS officer Sambhaji Zende, on Sunday evening.
A senior NCP functionary, on the condition of anonymity, said that the scheduled public meeting in Purandar was postponed and a revised date is yet to be finalised. Earlier, former state minister Vijay Shivtare, who is Shiv Sena's nominee for the Purandar seat, had claimed that he is the official candidate of Mahayuti here, adding that "Zende should tell people that unlike Nawab Malik, he is the NCP's candidate and not the one supported by the Mahayuti". In a similar tussle, Malik is contesting on an NCP ticket from the Mankhurd-Shivajinagar constituency, where Shiv Sena has also fielded its candidate with support from BJP.
Earlier on Friday, Ajit Pawar, while addressing party workers in Pimpri, had said, "I have received information that it has been decided (by Mahayuti alliance partners) to support a candidate of Shiv Sena's symbol in Purandar. However, but I am yet to speak to all the associates — and an appropriate decision will be taken." Shivtare, who had vowed.