MUMBAI:

NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik has taken strong objection to Bapat’s Japan visit, saying it was a burden on the cash-starved state government. “It was unethical on the part of Bapat to take his son on an official tour to Japan.”

He added that ever since Bapat joined the state cabinet, he is at the receiving end for the “near collapse” of the food and civil supplies department. “The Japan visit pertains to urban development projects. Either the CM or minister of state for urban development should have been nominated for the tour. It was wrong to depute a cabinet member who does not hold the urban development portfolio,” Malik said.

An urban development bureaucrat said the Pune civic body is bearing Kumar’s cost, while expenses incurred by Bapat and Zagde will be paid by the PMRDA. “Bapat is the part of the delegation in his capacity as chairman of PMRDA,” he said. “Gaurav is visiting Japan at his own cost; he is not the part of the delegation to study infrastructure projects there.”

Eyebrows are raised over Gaurav Bapat ’s five-day visit to Japan along with a delegation led by his father, food and civil supplies minister Girish Bapat. Pune municipal commissioner Kunal Kumar and Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) chief officer Mahesh Zagde are part of the delegation.