It is NCP president Sharad Pawar who is running the Maharashtra government, state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil said on Thursday. If any issue is to be resolved, one should meet Pawar and not Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Patil said, speaking to reporters at Sangli. Thackeray heads a coalition government of the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress. Patil was asked for a reaction to governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari''s reported advice to MNS chief Raj Thackeray to meet Pawar.

The MNS chief met the governor earlier in the day over the issue of consumers getting inflated power bills. "I do not know what governor said, but if you ask me, I would say it is Sharad Pawar who is running the state.... What is the use of meeting Uddhav-ji?" Patil said. "If there is an issue which needs to be resolved, one should meet Pawar because Uddhav-ji does not travel outside," he quipped.