Responding to a report that said that NCP chief Sharad Pawar had boycotted the swearing-in ceremony of PM Modi because he was allotted a seat in the fifth row, Press Secretary to the President of India, Ashok Malik took to Twitter to clear the air about the issue.
Malik tweeted that Sharad Pawar was sent an invitation to attend the swearing-in ceremony for “V-section”, amongst the most senior guests. Malik further added that even within V-section, Pawar was allotted the first row. He alleged that somebody in Pawar’s office might have misconstrued V for VVIP as the Roman V(five).
https://twitter.com/MalikAshok/status/1136220188678868992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Sharad Pawar had not attended the swearing-in ceremony which happened on Thursday last week in which PM Modi along with other cabinet ministers took an oath. Reports started pouring in stating that Sharad Pawar had boycotted the swearing-in ceremony because according to him his seniority wasn’t respected by the current regime and that he was extended an invitation to witness the swearing-in ceremony from the ‘V’ fifth row as against the set protocols.
Sharad Pawar was reportedly agitated that a former Union Minister and Chief Minister and a current political party head has not been treated with due respect.