Ajay Pawar to meet PM Modi on July 18

Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said he is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 18 and will raise the issues faced by farmers in the state during the meeting. On Friday, the key Finance and Planning portfolio was bagged by Pawar, who said he and other Nationalist Congress Party NCP MLAs who joined the government on July 2 were happy with the allocation of portfolios. PM Narendra Modi will meet Modi on July 18 at his private library in Jharkhand, he said. During the meeting, I will take up various issues related to farmers with him. Praful Patel and I will attend the NDA meeting of the NCP. The deputy CM has arrived in Nashik to attend the Shasan Aplya Dari government at your doorstep programme. Asked about the Shiv Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut's reported claim that as the Shinde-backed faction was not willing to part with the finance portfolio, it was asked to give up the CM's post, the NCP leader said. The attempt to disrupt the atmosphere is unnecessarily. We are happy with the portfolio allocation, he said. There are around 14 vacant positions in the cabinet and expansion of the cabinet is the chief minister's prerogative, he said. The CM will decide, I will not speak about it, Pawar said in response to a question about the cabinet expansion. There are now 28 cabinet ministers in the government, and no minister of state. The ministry can have a maximum of 43 members. On Friday, there was speculation that the state ministry expansion would also happen, but it did not take place. Pawar said four to five issues, including that of the OBC reservation, are pending in the Supreme Court. The Election Commission of Maharashtra has issued orders to prepare the electoral rolls, he said. After the completion of electoral rolls and the top court's verdict on the concerns, elections will be held in the state. There will be fair progress in the state and there will be no differences. Castes and communities are diverse in the state. We are taking everyone along, he said. We will work in tandem in mahayuti's grand alliance and efforts will be taken for the development of all, he said. Pawar Saheb, our inspiration, our idol, is our inspiration, our idol, he said. His picture is in my cabin. Sharad Pawar's wife Pratibha Pawar underwent a surgery related to her hand on Friday at Breach Candy Hospital in south Mumbai. After the operation, Ajit Pawar visited Silver Oak, the official residence of the NCP supremo, to meet Pratibha Pawar after she was discharged from hospital. He said politics and family are different things, and said: Politics and family are different things. We value family and traditions. Kaki Pratibha Pawar had some injury and was operated on. I wanted to go in the afternoon but couldn't go and therefore visited in the evening. There were two kaki, pwar saheb, kaki and Supriya Sule. There is no discussion on politics, he said. We are in the government to solve people's problems, he said. No one's legislative membership will be in a problem. We will not hurt the faith of those who have supported us. He added that the state has not recorded sufficient rainfall so far this year. There is a need to use water carefully, he said. Pawar arrived on the Vande Bharat Express train to Nashik, where he received a warm welcome from his supporters. It was his first visit to Nashik, where he became part of the Shinde-led government.