Mumbai: The Shiv Sena on Monday dubbed Congress leaders Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil and his father "earthworms", following which they retaliated by calling the Shiv Sena a "black cobra" and questioned its chief's credentials.

In an edit in the party mouthpiece Saamana, the Shiv Sena demanded to know the credentials of the Leader of Opposition (Vikhe-Patil) and his 84-year-old father Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil, a former union minister of Shiv Sena, as Maratha leaders in the ongoing agitation by the community.