Mumbai: Controversy has wracked the 94th Marathi litfest which is set to begin on Friday. With senior minister Chhagan Bhujbal hosting the literary meet, as chairman of the reception committee, in his sprawling 30-acre knowledge city near Nashik, the BJP has accused the NCP leader of appropriating the event. Astrophysicist, writer and Cambridge scholar Dr Jayant Narlikar will preside over the three-day conclave.
Satish Kulkarni, BJP mayor of Nashik, said that his party would keep away from the literary meet which, he alleged, has been appropriated by the NCP. That the sammelan organisers should ignore former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union minister of state for health Bharati Pawar has upset the BJP.
NCP president Sharad Pawar and industries minister Subhash Desai of Shiv Sena will attend the sammelan, while CM Uddhav Thackeray may join the proceedings online, it is said. Discerning readers are upset over invites to as many as 10 civil servants from across the state. Scholars said the pen versus power row may obscure Dr Narlikar’s contribution to Marathi literature as ace sci-fi writer.
