Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar is set to inaugurate the Sharad Krishi Bhavan agriculture research centre at Oras in Sindhudurg on May 14, NCP sources said here today.
Modelled on the lines of the Y B Chavan Pratishthan in Mumbai, the research centre which is spread over an acre of land, is the brainchild of late NCP leader Gurunath Kulkarni.
Sources said that the anti-Narayan Rane camp in the NCP like Sawantwadi MLA Deepak Kesarkar who resigned from the party and Sindhudurg district NCP chief Bal Bhise who was sacked from the party due to his opposition to Congress leader Narayan Rane were most likely to attend the inauguration function.
"These leaders and other office-bearers of the NCP's Sindhudurg unit were close to Kulkarni and are bound to participate in the function," sources said.
Last month, while campaigning for Narayan Rane's son Nitesh Rane in Sawantwadi, Pawar had criticised his party workers for opposing Rane in the constituency.
"It is time to set aside differences and look at the bigger picture," Pawar had told the Sindhudurg unit of the NCP.
However, the local NCP unit did not attend Pawar's rally for Nitesh Rane who is seeking a second term as MP from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha seat.
