Pune: A government event at the Ahilyadevi Government Medical College and General Hospital in Baramati has sparked a controversy after the names of senior leader Sharad Pawar, Baramati MP Supriya Sule, and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar were omitted from the official invitation.
Instead, the invitation listed Ajit Pawar’s private secretary, Hanumant Patil, as the chief guest, raising questions about the adherence to protocol.
The event in question was the inauguration of the hospital’s new auditorium, which was officiated by Rajya Sabha MP Sunetra Pawar on September 10th.
Despite the significance of the event and the involvement of prominent political figures in Baramati, the names of Sharad Pawar, Supriya Sule, and Ajit Pawar were notably absent from the invitation card.
This omission has led to widespread criticism and has prompted MP Supriya Sule to demand clarity on whether the state government has made any changes to the established protocol rules.
Supriya Sule, visibly upset by the incident, expressed her surprise at the absence of their names on the invitation. She pointed out that both she and Sharad Pawar were not invited to the event, and she was uncertain whether Ajit Pawar had received an invitation.
Sule emphasized that had they been invited, they would have attended the event with enthusiasm.
The issue of protocol adherence was a major point of contention for Sule, who questioned how the names on the invitation were selected and whether they complied with the official rules.
She urged the state government to clarify if any amendments to the protocol guidelines had been made and to communicate these changes transparently.
Following the controversy, a meeting was held on Wednesday by the hospital administration, which was attended by Supriya Sule. However, the meeting did not provide satisfactory answers regarding the omission of the names from the invitation.
The hospital dean, Dr. Chandrakant Mhaske, reportedly stated that no such event had taken place, a claim that Sule challenged by pointing to the publicly available photographs of the event. She reiterated that her primary concern was addressing the hospital's operational challenges, but the protocol issue was an important aspect that needed to be resolved.
Sule also mentioned that she has raised the issue with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil, seeking their intervention to ensure that protocol is properly followed in future government events.
