PM Modi to be conferred with award: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be conferred with Lokmanya Tilak National Award in Pune on August 1 at an event where NCP chief Sharad Pawar has been invited as a chief guest and Ajit Pawar as one of the attendees, organisers said on Monday (July 10) The Prime Minister has been selected for the award in recognition of his leadership and for ‘awakening’ the feeling of patriotism among citizens.
Sharad Pawar has been invited
According to the organisers, Sharad Pawar has been invited to the ceremony as chief guest at the function in which his nephew and now Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is among the invitees.
The other leaders who have been invited include Maharashtra Governor Ramesh Bais, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Notably, Ajit Pawar had joined the Shinde-Fadnavis government on July 2, in a major turn of events, that brought a quake in Maharashtra politics. He along with eight other NCP MLAs were sworn in as ministers in the state government.
"The Tilak Smarak Mandir Trust (Hind Swaraj Sangh) will confer the Lokmanya Tilak National Award upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 1, the 103rd death anniversary of Lokmanya Tilak," Trust president Deepak Tilak said in a release.
It said India climbed the ladder of progress under the leadership of the prime minister under the concept of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
Considering his perseverance and efforts, and highlighting his work, the trustees of the Tilak Smarak Mandir Trust have unanimously selected him for this award. "PM Modi awakened the feeling of patriotism among citizens and put India on the global map," the release said.
History and significance of the esteemed award
On the occasion of Lokmanya Tilak's death anniversary (who was a prominent figure in India's freedom struggle during the early 20th century), the esteemed award is presented annually by the Tilak Smarak Mandir Trust. The award was started in 1983 and so far, several eminent personalities from different walks of life have been honoured with it. Some of the recipients include socialist leader S M Joshi, former prime ministers Indira Gandhi, Dr Manmohan Singh, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Congress leader late Pranab Mukherjee and Infosys founder N R Narayana Murthy.
Sharad Pawar reminds PM of his remarks
After Ajit Pawar took oath as deputy chief minister, Sharad Pawar reminded PM Modi of his recent remarks about the ‘corruption’ of NCP leaders and asked him to act against those who are guilty.
"It seems the Prime Minister has exonerated the NCP and all those against whom he had levelled allegations. I am happy today that he gave cabinet berths to some colleagues from NCP. It shows the allegations against corruption were not factual. I am thankful to the PM for this," Sharad Pawar had said.
During an interaction with the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) booth workers in Bhopal on June 27, Modi said there are allegations of scams of nearly Rs 70,000 crore against NCP, including the Maharashtra Cooperative Bank scam, irrigation scam and illegal mining scam.
(With PTI inputs)
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