NCP defends Sharad Pawar meeting Adani; 'No need to mix two things'

A day after Sharad Pawar and Gautam Adani inaugurated a project in Gujarat's Ahmedabad, NCP leader Jayant Patil said there should be no controversy over it as keeping the invitation of Gautam Adani and the INDIA bloc are two separate things. Sharad Pawar knows Gautam Adani for a long time and Adani invited Sharad Pawar for the inauguration of a new project. "What is the problem in inaugurating a clean project? This is completely separate from INDIA bloc and its decisions. Sharad Pawar attended all meetings of the INDIA bloc. I don't think there should be any objection," Jayant Patil said.

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"There is no need to mix the things," the NCP leader said after the photo of Sharad Pawar and Gautam Adani cutting the ribbon of a plant was flagged by the BJP leaders who asked whether Congress leader Rahul Gandhi would comment on it.

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Sharad Pawar shared the photos of the inauguration of the plant and tweeted: "It was a privilege to inaugurate India's first Lactoferrin Plant Exympower in Vasna, Chacharwadi, Gujarat along with Mr. Gautam Adani."

Commenting on the photos, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said nobody in the INDIA bloc listens to Rahul Gandhi. On Sunday, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma asked why the Congress was silent on Sharad Pawar's meeting with Adani. "The rift between Rahul Gandhi and Sharad Pawar can’t get more obvious than this… Put Mamata Banerjee and Nitish Kumar in the mix, not to miss the Congress Govts in Rajasthan and Chattisgarh, and it would appear that all of them are working at cross purposes! The I.N.D.I Alliance is crumbling on multiple fronts," BJP's Amit Malviya said.