Tag: meet

  • Meet Abdul Basit, NEET 2023 Topper from Kashmir Valley – TheNewsCaravan

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    Abdul Basit, a student hailing from Pulwama, has accomplished an extraordinary feat by securing the top rank in the NEET UG-2023 entrance exam in Jammu and Kashmir, according to the National Testing Agency (NTA) announcement on Tuesday. Basit’s exceptional performance, with a score of 705 out of 720, has earned him the prestigious first position in the highly competitive exam in J&K.

    In an interview with Greater Kashmir, Basit attributed his success to his unwavering dedication and consistent efforts. He emphasized the pivotal role played by his teachers in providing him with proper guidance throughout his academic journey. Basit acknowledged that his success mantra was based on hard work and consistency, recognizing the invaluable support he received from his educators.

    Basit’s educational journey commenced at Ziekra Educational Institute in Pulwama, where he completed his primary education up to the 8th grade. Later, he transferred to NIET Pulwama to pursue his secondary and senior secondary studies. Displaying ambition and determination, Basit enrolled at Aakash Institute in the 9th grade, where he diligently prepared for both his class 12th exams and NEET.

    Impressively, Basit cleared the NEET exam in his first attempt, showcasing his academic prowess and meticulous preparation. The NEET UG-2023 examination was conducted nationwide on May 7, 2023, at various test centers.

    The significance of Basit’s achievement is further highlighted by the statistics of the NEET UG-2023 exam. Out of a total of 37,276 registered students, 36,431 appeared for the exam. Among the candidates, an impressive 20,564 individuals successfully qualified, illustrating the exceptional caliber of students competing for medical admissions.

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    ( With inputs from : www.TheNewsCaravan.com )

  • ‘CM doesn’t trust his MLAs…’: PM Modi’s dig at Gehlot post meet in Rajasthan

    ‘CM doesn’t trust his MLAs…’: PM Modi’s dig at Gehlot post meet in Rajasthan

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    Jaipur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday accused the Congress government in Rajasthan of following a policy of “appeasement” and taking a soft stand against terrorists, as he blamed the acquittal of the 2008 Jaipur serial blasts accused on this.

    Addressing a rally in Rajasthan’s Abu Road, he took a dig at the Congress infighting and said, “The chief minister does not trust his MLAs, they don’t trust him.”

    Referring to the 2008 Jaipur serial blasts, the prime minister alleged that the Congress government in the state did not fight the case strongly, leading to the acquittals.

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    He also alleged that there was a complete breakdown of law and order in Rajasthan under Congress’ rule.

    “Congress govt in Rajasthan is afraid to take action against criminals because of vote bank politics,” PM Modi alleged.

    This comes right after the PM met and shared the stage with the Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot at a gathering in Rajsamand district’s Nathdwara town where Prime Minister Modi launched various projects costing over Rs 5500 crore.

    At the gathering addressing the public Gehlot stated that the opposition should be respected in a democracy and hoped that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will work towards it.

    “If this is done, the ruling party and the opposition will be able to serve the country more vigorously,” the senior Congress leader said, with Modi on stage, stressing that for democracy the fight is over ideology.

    It is significant to note that Gehlot also drew the PM’s attention towards pending projects in the state including Dungarpur-Ratlam via Banswara rail line, Karauli-Sarmathura rail line and the national project status to Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project.

    Following Gehlot’s remarks, in a veiled attack on opposition parties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said some people are so full of negativity that they don’t want to see anything good happen in the country and only like to create controversy.

    Modi said those who measure everything with votes are unable to devise plans keeping the country in mind.

    “Because of this thinking, priority was not given to infrastructure development in the country,” he said without naming anyone.

    He said those filled with negativity neither have a vision nor the capability to think beyond their selfish political motive.

    (The story has been edited with inputs from PTI)

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    #doesnt #trust #MLAs.. #Modis #dig #Gehlot #post #meet #Rajasthan

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Go Airlines: Legal scene now shifts to US court after unproductive Pratt & Whitney meet

    Go Airlines: Legal scene now shifts to US court after unproductive Pratt & Whitney meet

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    Chennai: After getting what it had prayed for before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), the legal scene now shifts to a US court where Go Airlines (India) Ltd has filed a suit against the aircraft engine maker Pratt & Whitney.

    The Wadia group’s low cost airline has taken Pratt & Whitney to the court in the US to make it honour the award given by an emergency arbitrator appointed in accordance with the 2016 Arbitration Rules of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).

    Speaking to IANS, Go Airlines CEO Kaushik Khona said the US court’s decision is expected to happen soon.

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    According to the airline, it was forced to apply to the NCLT after Pratt & Whitney, the exclusive engine supplier for its Airbus A320neo aircraft fleet, refused to comply with an award issued by an emergency arbitrator appointed in accordance with the 2016 Arbitration Rules of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).

    “That order directed Pratt & Whitney to take all the reasonable steps to release and dispatch without delay to Go First at least 10 serviceable spare leased engines by April 27, 2023 and a further 10 spare leased engines per month until December 2023, with the objective of Go First returning to full operations and achieving its financial rehabilitation and survival,” the airline added.

    Go Airlines said that even if Pratt & Whitney complied with the arbitration award, it would be able to resume full operations by August/September 2023.

    Khona said even meeting the top brass of Pratt & Whitney when they visited India in January 2023 did not result in any positive response.

    The top brass of Pratt & Whitney led by Shane Eddy, President, had been to Bengaluru in January 2023 to officially open the doors of the company’s India Engineering Centre (IEC).

    “On January 19, 2023, Varun Berry (Managing Director and Vice Chairman of the Wadia group’s Britannia Industries Ltd) and I had gone to Bengaluru to meet Eddy and Mr.Hendrik Deurloo, President, (Commercial Engines) to again asking to provide much awaited and promised repaired engines and spare engines and induct failed engines into MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul),” Khona told IANS.

    According to Go Airlines, the engine maker had promised through a signed Side letter in 2012 that if an engine failed within its initial 6,000 hours (or 4,200 take-off and landing cycles) of normal operation, it would repair and recondition that engine at no charge.

    The airline said Pratt & Whitney engine problems have been an industry-wide issue. The teething problems continue even after so many years clearly indicating an inherent design problem.

    “These GTF engines were developed on an unproven, new’ technology platform prematurely tested and forced into the market to capture airline attention with performance stats that were never achieved,” Go Airlines charged.

    “Between 2016 and February 2023 GoFirst (brand of Go Airlines) carried out 510 GTF Engine removals: 289 Engine Changes as a result of at least 28 different defects, and 221 Engine Swaps. It also shows that the most prevalent technical issue, by some order of magnitude, has been combustor distress, with 140 GTF Engines removed for this issue alone.”

    The airlines said 15 per cent of total Pratt & Whitney GTF powered aircrafts are grounded because of faulty engines globally (178 aircrafts are grounded out of 1,219 aircraft as of March this year.

    And the most affected region is India with 65 grounded aircraft out of a total 178.

    “Out of a total 60 global customers, only four have grounded aircraft in excess of 25 per cent and two of them are Indian. Pratt & Whitney’s recent proposal whereby they proposed to give 5 per cent of induction slots to Go First despite AOG’s (aircraft on ground) at 54 per cent is hard to believe and is a deliberate attempt to kill Go First,” Go Airlines said.

    According to Khona, if Indian passengers are suffering high airfare now then it is due to Pratt & Whitney.

    “They (Pratt & Whitney) take India for granted,” said Khona.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Kari Lake to meet with senators as she inches closer to Senate bid

    Kari Lake to meet with senators as she inches closer to Senate bid

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    Lake would likely galvanize Trump supporters to the point that many Republicans think she would be all but impossible to defeat in a primary. But GOP strategists are concerned that Lake would turn off swing voters in the general election, particularly after she contested her loss in the gubernatorial contest in 2022.

    Last year, a number of Senate contenders tied to Trump won their primaries but were defeated in the fall. In an effort to avoid another disappointing election, Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), chair of the NRSC, has actively recruited candidates he believes are electable in key battleground states, including West Virginia, Montana and Pennsylvania. But Daines has not picked a favorite as of yet in Arizona.

    In a CNN interview this week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell declined to comment directly on a possible run by Lake, though he left Arizona out of his list of top four Senate battlegrounds. He said there is “high likelihood” that GOP leaders would wait until after the primary to determine whether to get involved. “I think there are some other places where with the right candidate, we might be able to compete — in Nevada, Arizona,” he said. The Arizona Senate primary won’t take place until August of 2024.

    The NRSC regularly sits down with potential and declared candidates, and such a meeting does not suggest any preference on its part. Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, the only Republican who has announced a run for Sinema’s seat, had a meeting with the NRSC earlier this year, as did Karrin Taylor Robson, a businessperson who is considering a campaign. Taylor Robson lost to Lake in the 2022 gubernatorial primary.

    Lake’s spokesperson did not provide the names of the senators she is sitting down with this week. The NRSC declined to comment on whether Daines is meeting with Lake. When Lake previously gathered with NRSC officials in February, she did not meet with him.

    Lake and her staffers have taken a number of steps recently that suggest she is either close to running for the Senate or positioning herself as Trump’s running mate, should he win the presidential nomination. Her aide, Colton Duncan, said he is “99 percent sure she’s going to run for Senate.” She is releasing a book, “Unafraid: Just Getting Started.” She has also attacked Gallego as too liberal for Arizona.

    A GOP strategist close to Lake said she is expected to announce a Senate campaign in the early fall, though others in her orbit said a kickoff could take place earlier.

    In addition, Lake has made two stops this year in Iowa, the first-in-the-nation caucus state where she happens to have grown up. Last week, she spoke at Conservative Political Action Conference Hungary and met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a venerated international figure in America’s MAGA movement. She is currently in the United Kingdom, where she appeared on “Piers Morgan Uncensored,” speaking to him about her lawsuit disputing her loss in the governor’s race as well as her future.

    “If for some reason we don’t get a fair outcome in our election, I will run for Senate, most likely,” Lake told him.



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    #Kari #Lake #meet #senators #inches #closer #Senate #bid
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • G-20, Amarnath Yatra: High level security meet in Srinagar today

    G-20, Amarnath Yatra: High level security meet in Srinagar today

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    Srinagar, May 09: A crucial security review meeting will take place in Srinagar today that will be chaired by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla while top security officials from the Union Territory will participate in the meet. Arrangements for the upcoming G-20 events, Amarnath Yatra, recent attacks in Poonch and Rajouri will be discussed besides other security related matters including terrorism and law and order situation.

    A senior official from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), over phone from New Delhi, a high level meeting will take place in Srinagar today. “Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla and Director Intelligence Bureau are flying to Srinagar from New Delhi. The meeting will be chaired by Bhalla,” the official said, adding top officials from police including Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh, ADGP’s of Kashmir and Jammu, Vijay Kumar and Mukesh Singh, GoC’s of 15 and 16 Corps, IGPs of CRPF and BSF, besides officers from the various intelligence agencies will participate in the meeting.

    As far as the agenda, the official said that the meeting will discuss and give final touches to the security arrangements to be put in place for the upcoming G-20 events slated for May 22-May 24 in Srinagar and the Amarnath Yatra. This will be the first time that G-20 events will be held in Srinagar under India’s presidency. J&K administration has already stated that the event was a great opportunity to showcase the tourism potential of the J&K and to give a global push to the UT’s tourism, which is the backbone of the total economy of the region.

    Sources in the MHA said that apart from the security plan for the G-20 events, today’s meeting will also prepare and finalise the plan for Amarnath Yatra. Security grid in Kashmir has already prepared a security plan and as per sources, the power point presentation of the same will be made in the today’s meeting. As per the plan, Lakes and Rivers will be handed over to the MARCOS while as NSG will be deployed along with the special operation group (SoG) of the police for fool-proof security cover for the G-20 events that are supposed to be held at SKICC on the banks of famous Dal Lake.

    Today’s meeting, sources said will also give final touches to the security arrangements on highways and counter-strategy to foil any possible attacks/strikes by militants to disrupt the G-20 event. ADGP Kashmir Vijay Kuma recently stated that the security grid has devised a strategy to scuttle all possible bids by militants that include drone attacks, vehicle-borne IEDs and fidayeen strikes besides grenade attacks. Sources said that today’s meeting will also discuss the recent attacks in Poonch and Rajouri that claimed the lives of ten soldiers including five para-troopers. It may be recalled that security grid across J&K is on a high-alert ahead of the G-20 events in Srinagar—(KNO)

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    #G20 #Amarnath #Yatra #High #level #security #meet #Srinagar #today

    ( With inputs from : roshankashmir.net )

  • G-20, Amarnath Yatra: High Level Security Meet In Srinagar On Tuesday

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    SRINAGAR: A crucial security review meeting chaired by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla will take place in Srinagar on Tuesday.

    Top security officials from the Union Territory will participate in the meet. Arrangements for the upcoming G-20 events, Amarnath Yatra, recent attacks in Poonch and Rajouri will be discussed besides other security-related matters including terrorism and law and order situation.

    Quoting an official from from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), KNO reported that, a high level meeting will take place in Srinagar on Wednesday.

    “Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla and Director Intelligence Bureau are flying to Srinagar from New Delhi. The meeting will be chaired by Bhalla,” the official said, adding top officials from police including Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh, ADGP’s of Kashmir and Jammu, Vijay Kumar and Mukesh Singh, GoC’s of 15 and 16 Corps, IGPs of CRPF and BSF, besides officers from the various intelligence agencies will participate in the meeting.

    As far as the agenda of the meeting is concerned, the official said that the meeting will discuss and give the final touch to the security arrangements to be put in place for the upcoming G-20 events slated for May 22-May 24 in Srinagar and the Amarnath Yatra.

    Sources in the MHA said that apart from the security plan for the G-20 events, the meeting will also prepare and finalize the plan for Amarnath Yatra.

    The security grid in Kashmir has already prepared a security plan and as per sources, the PowerPoint presentation of the same will be made in the meeting. As per the plan, Lakes and Rivers will be handed over to the MARCOS while NSG will be deployed along with the special operation group (SoG) of the police for fool-proof security cover for the G-20 events that are supposed to be held at SKICC on the banks of famous Dal Lake.

    “Security on highways and counter-strategy to foil any possible attacks and strikes by militants to disrupt the G-20 event will be discussed in the meet,” sources said.

    ADGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar recently stated that the security grid has devised a strategy to scuttle all possible bids by militants that include drone attacks, vehicle-borne IEDs, and fidayeen strikes besides grenade attacks.

    The security grid across JK is on a high alert ahead of the G-20 events in Srinagar.

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    #G20 #Amarnath #Yatra #High #Level #Security #Meet #Srinagar #Tuesday

    ( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

  • Nitish Kumar to travel to Odisha, meet Naveen Patnaik on May 9

    Nitish Kumar to travel to Odisha, meet Naveen Patnaik on May 9

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    Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will meet his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar on May 9, amid talks of regional parties coming together ahead of the 2024 general elections, officials said.

    Kumar will meet Patnaik at Naveen Niwas’ here around 12 pm, they said.

    The Bihar CM and JD(U) leader had recently announced that he would travel across the country to unite opposition parties ahead of the Lok Sabha polls next year.

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    He has already met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, and Left leaders Sitaram Yechury and D Raja.

    Patnaik, the BJD supremo, had also met Banerjee in March.

    In December last year, Patnaik had invited both Banerjee and Kumar to witness the hockey world cup in Odisha.

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    #Nitish #Kumar #travel #Odisha #meet #Naveen #Patnaik

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Success stories of Bihar women entrepreneurs to be showcased in G20 meet

    Success stories of Bihar women entrepreneurs to be showcased in G20 meet

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    Patna: The Bihar government will highlight the rise of rural women entrepreneurs breaking all barriers and the success of the World Bank-backed village livelihood programme Jeevika’ among several other socio-economic programmes during G-20 events to be held here in June, an official said on Saturday.

    The G20 meetings in Patna are expected to be held on themes such as women and future of work and upskilling of the women workforce in the tech-intensive work environment.

    “During two-day G-20 programmes on June 22 and 23, the Bihar government will showcase women’s upliftment and development in the rural sector, besides the state’s rich cultural heritage.

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    “How rural women are defying odds to become entrepreneurs in Bihar through different initiatives taken by the state government, how Jeevika’ has become a revolution and changed the lives of rural women and their families will be presented before G20 delegates,” Art and Culture department secretary Bandana Preyashi said.

    She also said how women in Bihar are interested in joining the police, and their success stories in different fields, the state’s soft power and its varied history will also be showcased through cultural programmes and exhibitions during the G-20 events.

    “At least five success stories of Bihar’s women, their struggle in a patriarchal society and how they have helped transform the lives of other women with the support of several initiatives by the state government, including Jeevika, will be highlighted through cultural events and displays during the visit of the G20 engagement groups,” Preyashi said.

    Delegates will also be able to learn about Bihar’s “one-district-one-product” scheme to boost local entrepreneurs, she said.

    The state government has also planned several cultural events to give delegates a glimpse of the amazing history of Bihar.

    “We have listed some iconic monuments from the state so that delegates can learn about the history of Bihar through cultural events and exhibitions. They will also be able to know about Vaishali, an archaeological site located around 45 km away from the state capital, at the exhibitions”,” the official said.

    The cultural events will elaborate the history and heritage of Bihar through musical gigs, display of archival photographs, live performances by traditional artists and also through displays of work by state artisans, she said.

    Bihar Museum, Patna Sahib Gurudwara, and two world heritage sites in Gaya and Rajgir are on the list for sightseeing for G20 delegates.

    Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on several occasions in the past praised the work being done by rural women associated with JEEVIKA, a part of his government’s rural livelihoods project, to improve the economic status of their families.

    “The number of ‘Jeevika’ didis, the self-help group women, has increased to 1.30 crore in the state. They are doing splendid jobs, and this model (Bihar Rural Livelihoods Project) has ensured women’s empowerment in a big way. Their work is earning appreciation from different parts of the world,” the CM had told media persons in Katihar in February.

    The two-day events in June are part of India’s G20 Presidency.

    The G20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries – Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom and the US and the European Union.

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    #Success #stories #Bihar #women #entrepreneurs #showcased #G20 #meet

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • ‘Indo-China relations are not normal…’: Jaishankar at SCO meet

    ‘Indo-China relations are not normal…’: Jaishankar at SCO meet

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    Panaji: Reiterating his stand on India-China border issues, External Affairs Minister S Jaishnakar on Friday made it clear again that the ties between the two countries cannot be normal until peace and tranquillity are maintained on the Land of Actual Control (LAC).

    Addressing a press conference at the conclusion of the Foriegn Ministers’ Meeting under the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), S Jaishankar was asked to share details about his talks with Chinese Foriegn Minister Qin Gang.

    To this, the EAM replied, “The issue is that there is an abnormal position in the border areas, along the boundary. We had a very frank discussion about it…We have to take the disengagement process forward.

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    “I have made it very clear, publically as well, that India-China relations are not normal and cannot be normal if peace and tranquillity in the border areas are disturbed…” Jaishankar added.

    “I have been very consistent about it and I have not changed my position in this meeting either,” he added.

    Regarding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Jaishankar said, “It was made very clear twice that connectivity is good for progress but it cannot violate the integrity and sovereignty of states.”

    “This has been our long-standing position and nobody should have any doubt about it and I assure you nobody in this room has any doubt about it. I made sure of that,” Jaishanakar added.

    China’s CPEC projects in Pakistan have slowed down due to the prevailing economic crisis in the neighbouring country.

    Pakistan has been slow to complete infrastructure projects and China has been slow to fund new ones, reported Foreign Policy.

    Citing a case in point, the report said a reactor that was inaugurated by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in February was funded by China to strengthen Pakistan’s energy security. The work on the reactor began in 2016 after the launch of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

    The slowing pace of the CPEC projects is not only because of the ongoing economic crisis in Pakistan as it cannot afford the infrastructure loans extended to it, but also due to Beijing’s own economic slowdown.

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    #IndoChina #relations #normal.. #Jaishankar #SCO #meet

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Key NCP committee to meet today to take a call on Sharad Pawar’s successor

    Key NCP committee to meet today to take a call on Sharad Pawar’s successor

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    Mumbai: A committee of the Nationalist Congress Party will meet at 11 am today to decide on who will head the NCP next, days after party chief Sharad Pawar announced that he would be stepping down from the top position.

    The committee was set up by 82-year-old Pawar to pick his successor and it includes Ajit Pawar, Supriya Sule, former Union leader Parful Patel and Bhujbal.

    Pawar on Thursday said his decision to step down from the post was taken for the future of the party and to create a new leadership amid continued demand from party workers that he reconsiders his decision.

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    NCP leaders, on condition of anonymity, said Baramati Lok Sabha MP and Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule is likely to be the party’s national chief while Ajit Pawar will take charge of the Maharashtra unit.

    As per party leaders, the mantle of NCP chief is likely to remain within the Pawar family as giving the reins to someone from outside may lead to rifts and power tussles in the outfit formed in 1999.

    These leaders asserted Sule, a three-term LS MP, had established herself as an effective parliamentarian and has contacts with leaders of parties across the political spectrum, whereas Ajit Pawar has a good hold over the state unit and is widely acknowledged as an able administrator.

    Moreover, these leaders added that Ajit Pawar had recently spoken about his chief ministerial dreams, while Sule has always said national politics interests her.

    Incidentally, senior NCP leader and former state minister Chhagan Bhujbal had said Sule should take up the party’s national mantle and Ajit Pawar must head the state unit, though the MLA from Yeola in Nashik was quick to add that this was his personal opinion.

    Speaking outside the Y B Chavan Centre in the city, where his supporters have been camping to demand his continuation as the party chief, Pawar said on Thursday he would take a final decision in the next couple of days and the sentiments of party workers will not be ignored.

    “I respect your sentiments. I should have discussed my plans with all of you and taken you into confidence. But I know you wouldn’t have allowed me to take the decision (of stepping down as party chief),” the former Union minister told his supporters.

    He said some party colleagues from outside Maharashtra will meet him on Friday to discuss the issue. “I will take a final decision in one or two days,” Pawar said.

    As emotions ran high among his supporters, Pawar tried to pacify them outside the YB Chavan Centre.

    The party cadres gathered at the place urged Pawar to appoint a working president of the party, while he himself should continue in the post.

    Some of them said Pawar should helm the party at least till 2024 as the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are due, while others said if he did not reconsider his decision, they would resort to a hunger strike.

    Pawar on Tuesday sprang a surprise by announcing his decision to quit as president of the party he founded and headed since 1999 when he left the Congress to chart his own political course.

    The announcement, made at an event, stumped leaders and workers of the 24-year-old party.
    Pawar, a Rajya Sabha MP and one of the stalwarts of the Opposition, had said he was stepping down as NCP chief but was not retiring from public life.

    The announcement came amid speculation that Ajit Pawar and some MLAs may join hands with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, though the former deputy chief minister has refuted such talk by claiming he will be with the NCP till he is alive.

    According to party sources, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin of the DMK spoke to Sule over phone to enquire about developments in the NCP following Tuesday’s announcement.

    While Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Congress have maintained the developments in the NCP will not affect the Maha Vikas Aghadi, which comprises the three parties, political observers said a lot would depend on what Ajit Pawar does after the Supreme Court verdict, likely in a couple of days, on petitions related to the toppling of the Thackeray government in June last year.

    These observers also added Ajit Pawar was unlikely to switch sides as developments since Tuesday have shown the NCP was firmly with Sharad Pawar and the former was unlikely to get the numbers to effectively split the party.

    Speaking on the future of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, Maharashtra Congress vice president Ratnakar Mahajan said the current situation was “complex and unpredictable”.

    “But, all the three constituents of the MVA would stay together in the light of results of recent polls,” Mahajan said.

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    #Key #NCP #committee #meet #today #call #Sharad #Pawars #successor

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )