Though he has been part of the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance for over a year, Ajit Pawar still maintains ideological differences with the RSS, as evident from his decision to stay away from the meet to pay homage to RSS chief MS Golwalkar at Hedgewar Smriti Mandir at Nagpur's Reshimbagh.
However, two of his MLAs decided to defy Ajit Pawar's stance and attend the ceremony on Thursday morning. Tumsar MLA Raju Karemore and Arjuni Morgaon MLA Rajkumar Badole arrived at Nagpur, hinting that not everybody within the party shares Pawar's stance on RSS.
Both Karemore and Badole, MLAs from Vidarbha, were welcomed by the RSS workers. Badole was a BJP leader before joining NCP in October ahead of the elections. So his visit to the RSS centre can be explained but Karmore attending the event has tainted the secular image of the NCP, many political analysts feel. Many speculate whether Pawar was under pressure from Sangh to show up for the event.
However, Karemore told reporters there was no diktat within NCP against visiting the event. "I was not given any instructions from the party not to go to the memorial temple. I will discuss this with Ajit Pawar," he said, adding that he had not discussed attending the event with anyone in the party. "I came here on my wish," he said.
Last year, no MLAs from the NCP attended the event at Nagpur. The Party spokesperson Amol Mitkari had then made it clear that the party was opposed to the Manuwadi ideology. Ajit Pawar clarified that NCP doesn't agree with the Sangh's thinking.
Meanwhile, most of the Mahayuti legislators belonging to the BJP and Shiv Sena, including Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief leader Eknath Shinde, attended the event.
Senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar told reporters that he wasn't sure whether Ajit Pawar was invited to the event at Reshimbagh. "I do not know whether Ajit Dada has been invited or not. So it is not right for me to comment on this. How can I answer why Ajit Dada did not come here. Ajit Dada himself will tell this," Mungantiwar added.