Ratan Tata Brings Shinde, Pawar Together

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's mystery illness last week saw him drop out from public view and head to his home in Satara to recover as Shiv Sena leaders expressed concern about the state of his health.

Some observers claimed Shinde was sulking after Ajit Pawar, the Nationalist Congress Party leader who joined the Maharashtra government in July and was appointed deputy chief minister, had reportedly begun monitoring projects initiated by Shiv Sena ministers.

'Replacing Shinde saheb is not easy'

Shinde and 39 MLAs had broken away from the parent party in June 2022, citing among other reasons their anger with Ajit Pawar, then finance minister in the Uddhav Thackeray government.

The chief minister was absent at the launch of a government project last week at which Ajit Pawar was present, adding masala to the speculation that he was unhappy with the deputy CM.

On Saturday, August 19, 2023, Shinde and Pawar were seen together at an event when Tata Sons Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata was conferred with the Maharashtra government's first Udyog Ratna award.

The event was held at Tata's home in Colaba, South Mumbai, in deference to his age (he will be 86 on December 28).

Also present was Devendra Fadnavis, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader and the other deputy chief minister who drew both Shinde and Pawar into the power-sharing arrangement at different times.

Natarajan Chandrasekaran, the current Tata Sons chairman, can be spotted in the photographs as also state Industry Minister Uday Samant.

Glance through the photographs below, which may provide some clues about what may transpire in Maharashtra politics -- which hasn't seen a dull moment in the past year -- in the days ahead.

IMAGE: How did Ratan Tata build a business empire?
Find out here. All photographs: ANI Photo

IMAGE: Music Maestro Zubin Mehta has known Ratan Tata a long time.
This is what he told Rediff after Ratan Tata stepped down as Tata Sons chairman.

IMAGE: What was it like working with Rata Tata?
Mukund Rajan, who was the Tata group's brand custodian, revealed more here.

IMAGE: One of the first business leaders Shinde called on after being appointed chief minister last year was Ratan Tata.

IMAGE: R K Krishna Kumar was a member of Ratan Tata's inner circle when he ran Tata Sons.
Mr Krishna Kumar, who passed away earlier this year, gave Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel fascinating glimpses into RNT.