Where was Maharashtra FM Ajit Pawar in pre-budget meeting: MoS Finance Karad

Minister of State MoS for Finance Dr Bhagwat Karad made a sensational revelation that Finance Minister of Maharashtra Ajit Rao Pawar who is also the deputy Chief Minister of the state was absent in state finance ministers prebudget meeting called by Union Minister of Finance Nirmala sitharaman to know the budget expectations from the state governmentsMinister of State MoS for Finance Dr Bhagwat Karad made a sensational revelation that Finance Minister of Maharashtra Ajit Rao Pawar who is also the deputy Chief Minister of the state was absent in state finance ministers prebudget meeting called by Union Minister of Finance Nirmala sitharaman to know the budget expectations from the state governmentsHe Ajit Rao Pawar was not present in the prebudget meeting of all the finance ministers of state governments we sent invitations to all others were there sans Maharashtras finance minister This was an important meeting as the union finance minister wanted to know the budget expectations from all the state governments its the platform where all state governments participate and let the union finance ministry know about their financial requirements but unfortunately Maharashtras finance minister Ajit Rao Pawar didnt attend the meeting even after repeated calls revealed MoS Dr Bhagwat KaradThis verbal spat started after Ajit Pawar commented that his state got nothing in this union budget22 despite having a Union minister of state for finance from Maharashtra This was actually a direct comment on MoS finance Karad who hails from MaharashtraDr Karad specially pointed out the prebudget consultations with the Finance Ministers of States and Union Territories with Legislature for Union Budget 202223 chaired by the Union Minister for Finance amp Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman on December 30 The meeting was attended by Union Minister of State for Finance Chief Ministers Deputy Chief Ministers Finance Ministers Ministers and Senior Officers from the States and Union Territories with Legislature and the Union GovernmentHe Ajit Pawar is the finance minister of Maharashtra why didnt he come when he had an opportunity to convey his states expectations before the Union finance ministry regarding the union budget22 They sent an IAS officer who didnt have any idea about the budgetary expectation of the state what is the use added KaradKarad also mentioned one more meeting where Ajit Pawar was invited as the deputy CM of Maharashtra called by the Union Minister for Finance amp Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman via virtual conference on November 15 with a view to enhance the investment climate in the country in the wake of strong recovery and the opportunities accorded by a shift in geopolitical realities post pandemicThe states like Arunachal Pradesh Bihar and Delhi sent their deputy CMs in the meeting as their CMs were not available or the Deputy CMs have finance portfolios but from Maharashtra it was attended by state officialsI can understand that the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray was not keeping well at that time so he was not in condition to attend the meeting but what about the deputy CM of the state Ajit Pawar Remember along with holding the finance portfolio he is also the Deputy CM but he didnt attend said KaradThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever