MUMBAI: PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday was conferred the Lokmanya Tilak National Award in Pune in a ceremony attended by NCP chief Sharad Pawar. The veteran Maharashtra leader showed up at the event despite intense pressure from allies and his own party leaders not to share the stage with Modi. The opposition INDIA alliance felt the event won’t be good optics for them at a time when a united front is being put up against the BJP.
This was the first meeting of Modi and Pawar after a split in NCP, triggered by a rebellion by Ajit Pawar who joined the BJP-Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government last month. In his speech, Modi said India has come a long way from a ‘trust deficit’ to being a ‘trust-surplus’ country. He said trust surplus is seen today both in policies and the hard work of the people. “Development is impossible if there is an atmosphere of mistrust,” he added.
During the ceremony, Modi and Pawar were seen engaged in small talk. However, while speaking at the event, Sharad Pawar took a dig at Modi, saying: “Shivaji Maharaj never snatched anyone’s land,” in an apparent reference to the BJP’s role in splitting the Shiv Sena and NCP.
The Lokmanya Tilak National Award was constituted in 1983 to honour the legacy of Lokmanya Tilak and is presented every year on August 1, Tilak’s death anniversary. Modi was conferred the award in recognition of his ‘supreme leadership’ and for ‘awakening the feeling of patriotism among citizens’.