Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar chief Sharad Pawar was present along with Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar for the inauguration of the 'Namo Rojgar Melava 2024' on Saturday in the opposition stalwart's Baramati stronghold.

The NCP founder's presence at the job fair capped a chain of events that saw his name being initially omitted from the list of invitees, followed by him calling CM Shinde and Deputy CMs Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar for a meal at his residence.

Shinde and Fadnavis had declined the meal invite by citing a busy schedule, while the position of Ajit Pawar, a bitter rival of Sharad Pawar since the split in the NCP in July last year, was not known.

"We have a tight schedule (on Saturday) as after the Baramati event we have to go to Ahmedabad. I told him (Sharad Pawar) that next time on my Baramati visit, I would visit him," CM Shinde had told reporters on Friday after the end of the Legislature session.

Downplaying the invite and his declining it, Shinde further said, "If someone comes close to your home, you are bound to invite him over." Incidentally, Sharad Pawar was invited formally for the job fair after a furore from opposition parties since he has represented Baramati as an MP or MLA since the last 1960s. He is currently a Rajya Sabha MP.

Others who took part in the Namo Rojgar Melava 2024 were state ministers Dilip Walse Patil, Uday Samant apart from Baramati Lok Sabha MP and Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.