Raigad (Maharashtra), April 2 (IANS) NCP chief Sharad Pawar Wednesday urged his partymen not to take Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena lightly in the ensuing parliamentary election.
Addressing a meeting of Nationalist Congress Party workers, the union agriculture minister said that based on the MNS's past performance in Lok Sabha and assembly elections, it could prove to be an important factor in the coming polls.
"Don't take it lightly. Raj Thackeray has built it up with great struggles," Pawar said.
On the other hand, Pawar took a swipe at Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, saying the party in on a continuing downslide.
"He has not been able to nurture the legacy he inherited from (the late) Bal Thackeray," Pawar said.
Pawar's comments assume significance in view of the feud that has again erupted between the Thackeray cousins as the election temperatures rise.
Earlier, addressing a rally here, Pawar targeted Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and questioned how could people trust him when he did not even meet the family of a former Congress MP who was killed in the riots.
"With Modi as chief minister, a Congress MP was burnt barely 20 km from the state capital. But this CM did not even bother to go and meet his family. How can he assure the country's well-being?" Pawar asked.
He reiterated that India has seen so many elections, but nobody has heard of a prime minister nominee declared beforehand, and it tantamouts to an insult to the constitution.
"What are the sacrifices made by their leaders for the country? We must not allow them to succeed," Pawar told the crowd, while campaigning for NCP candidate Sunil Tatkare contesting from Raigad.
On the occasion, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan expressed confidence that the Congress-NCP alliance would bag all 48 seats in the state in view of the unprecedented progress achieved by the UPA government at the centre in the past 10 years.
Chavan said Modi was bringing to the fore his "dictatorial tendencies" by sideling seniors in the BJP like L.K. Advani and now-expelled Jaswant Singh.
No legally Admissible Evidence against me: Tytler to Court
New Delhi, Jan 15 (IANS) Congress leader Jagdish Tytler told a court here Thursday that there w
In the coming days in North India, people are expected to get relief from the heatwave. The weath
Goa set to vote after subdued campaign
Panaji, April 10 (IANS) Neither foregone conclusions nor overwhelming odds favour any particula
Media promotes AAP, not Left: CPI-M
New Delhi, April 17 (IANS) The corporate media gives more coverage to Anna Hazare and the AAP c
India got a bronze medal on Tuesday, the fourth day of the Paris Olympics when the pair of Manu B
Salman Khan, who established Katrina Kaif in Bollywood, will not attend her wedding. This news ha
Unlock 5 : school, train, workplace guidelines issued
The central government has asked companies to refrain from using centralized air conditioning sys
There has been an uproar over Congress leader Salman Khurshid's book 'Sunrise over Ayodhya'. Khur
A major accident occurred on Thursday at the Pune-based plant of Serum Institute of India (SII),
Uniform Civil Code: Tribes of Uttarakhand may be out of UCC, the government is yet to decide on this
The tribes of Uttarakhand can remain separate from the Uniform Civil Code. There are seven major
