Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar matched ‘barb for barb’ and ‘swipe for swipe’ while returning salvos fired by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray, who targeted NCP leaders on Tuesday at a public rally in Thane. Pawar said one should not take Raj Thackeray, who speaks once a year, seriously, and yet responded to certain charges, reminding the MNS chief that waking up early in the morning helps one gain knowledge through reading newspapers before speaking rubbish against anyone. About Thackeray’s ultimatum on removing loudspeakers from the mosques by May 3, Pawar put the ball in the state government’s court, saying it should think seriously about it.   

On Ajit Pawar

Pawar responded to allegations made by Thackeray one by one, insisting that the MNS chief played into the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party to divide the people on communal lines. Citing that Thackeray didn’t discuss people-related issues like inflation, fuel prices and unemployment, and did not say a word against the BJP in his speech, Pawar said it was clear that the MNS was the BJP’s Team-B that the ruling party at the Centre has been guiding. “I don’t know the understanding between the MNS and BJP,” he said.