Mumbai/Pune: "Trust surplus" is seen today both in policies and the hard work of the people in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday as he received the Lokmanya Tilak National Award in Pune. Development is impossible if there is an atmosphere of mistrust, Mr Modi said in his acceptance speech at the event, where he shared the dais with NCP chief Sharad Pawar. During his visit, the PM also laid the foundation stone for around Rs 15,000 crores worth of projects.
At the event, the Prime Minister spoke of India's journey from "trust deficit" to "trust surplus". He said: "Today, the country is believing in itself in every sphere."
"In the last nine years, the people of India laid the foundations of big developments and made big transformations possible, and that is why India became the fifth largest economy in the world. It is the people of India who made it happen," Mr Modi said.
Mr Pawar was the chief guest at the programme. His presence at the award function, despite requests from members of the Opposition INDIA alliance to not share stage with Mr Modi, raised political temperature in Maharashtra politics.
The presence of Mr Pawar during the award ceremony did not go down well with the MVA constituents. While the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) protested against the PM, none of the constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) directly criticised Mr Pawar, though they expressed apprehension that it will reflect poorly on the Opposition unity.
Even legislators of the Mr Pawar-led NCP faction were puzzled over their leader’s presence at the award ceremony. Interestingly, Mr Pawar was instrumental in inviting the Prime Minister for the award.
Senior Congress leader and former chief minister Ashok Chavan said that, at the time, when all the Opposition parties were united under the INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) in the country, the presence of Mr Pawar at the award ceremony raised doubts. "He should clear the air, because this has confused people," Mr Chavan said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut said that the Prime Minister’s visit to Maharashtra became controversial because of Mr Pawar’s attendance.
He also said that the NCP chief three months ago had announced that he had invited the Prime Minister to the programme and therefore it would not have been appropriate for him to skip the event. "However, the situation has changed now. The Prime Minister is saying that he would not share the dais with corrupt people. He would uproot the corrupt people. The Prime Minister made wild allegations of corruption to the tune of Rs 70,000 crores against the NCP leaders, including Mr Pawar and Ajit Pawar. After a few days, Ajit Pawar and his colleagues joined the BJP government. Now the Prime Minister is sharing the dais with the same leaders," Mr. Raut said.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) chief spokesperson also alleged that the Prime Minister is making threats and intimidating the Opposition parties in order to force them to ally with the BJP.
This was also the first time after the split in the NCP that Mr Pawar was sharing the dais with his nephew and Maharashtra deputy chief minister, Ajit Pawar.
Speaking on the issue, Ajit Pawar said that the programme was decided a long time ago. "Everyone knows that the trust belongs to the Tilak family. The trust decided to confer this year’s award on the Prime Minister. But the people of trust were facing an issue in contacting the Prime Minister. So they approached Mr Pawar, who invited Mr Modi," the Maharashtra deputy CM said.
During his Pune visit, the Prime Minister inaugurated two metro corridors and laid the foundation stone for around Rs 15,000 crores worth of projects in the city. Before commencing his Pune trip, Mr Modi visited the Dagdusheth temple in Pune and offered prayers.
