Maharashtra Transport Minister Diwakar Narayan Raote on Sunday took a dig at Nationalist Congress Party president and the former Union Minister Sharad Pawar for not taking the salutation “Jai Maharashtra” at the end of his speech at the All India Marathi Natya Sammelan on Saturday.
Speaking at the valedictory ceremony of the three-day sammelan organised by Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Natya Parishad here, he pointed out that Mr. Pawar did not hesitate while greeting the audience with the salutation “Jai Karnataka” at a function [KLE Society’s centenary celebrations] on Friday.
But, he avoided the salutation “Jai Maharashtra” on the Marathi natya sammelan stage, Mr. Raote said.
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Mr. Pawar had concluded his inaugural speech with the salutation “Jai Hind”, but stopped short of saying “Jai Maharashtra.” “I am too small a person to make any remark or criticise a political doyen like Mr. Pawar. Small people like us should not be given an opportunity to speak against such tall personalities,” he said while observing that the stage from where he was speaking was “cultural” and not political. Mr. Raote said that the Karnataka government laying out conditions for holding a cultural event in Belagavi was a matter of regret. The government should have ensured fair play without holding any prejudice against the members of the linguistic minority, the Minister said. He concluded his speech with the salutations “Jai Akhand Sampoorna Maharashtra” and “Vande Mataram”.
Parishad president Mohan Joshi and conference president Faiyyaz Sheikh were present. The sammelan concluded with the parishad adopting resolutions, including a demand for Rs. 1 crore from the Maharashtra government to strengthen and promote Marathi children’s theatre activities.
‘Why did he avoid
the salutation ‘Jai Maharashtra’ at the end of his speech?’