6.9.15

Maha CM prunes delegation to Japan

A day after cabinet colleagues and high ranking bureaucrats raised eyebrows over chief minister Devendra Fadnavis's five-day Japan tour, the CM stepped in to drastically prune the size of his delegation and cancelled major events. Fadnavis confirmed that the size of the delegation has been cut down from 69 to 8 and a tourism show, scheduled to be organised in Tokyo, has been postponed indefinitely. The large group of performing artists who were to hold the show at Gonjhau square have been informed that the event has been put on hold.
“Now it will be a small delegation, mostly focussed on the unveiling of Babasaheb Ambedkar's statue on September 10 and a few infrastructure and industries projects,“ the CM said. “We have cancelled the names of three ministers from the delegation, now only me and industries minister Subhash Desai will be the part of the delegation.'' The step, he said, has been necessitated by the drought conditions that are plaguing the state.
The delegation that is to visit Japan between September 8 and 13 initially comprised five cabinet members, a clutch of leading politicians, more than a dozen bureaucrats from the Maharashtra industrial development and tourism development corporations besides the personal staff of the CM and Desai. Dr Ambedkar's statue was scheduled to be unveiled on September 12, while 47 artists were to perform on the same day . The CM was scheduled to meet the Japanese prime minister on September 11.
“The CM was planning to cancel the entire tour. However, owing to the unveiling of Dr Ambedkar's statue and meet ing with Japan prime minister, he did not change his itinerary , but trimmed his delegation,'' a senior bureaucrat said.

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