Election: Ajit Pawar attacks Narendra Modi, bats for Rahul Gandhi

Thane, March 24: Claiming that BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was not capable of leading the country, senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar on March 23 said each and every Lok Sabha seat was important for his party and Congress so that Rahul Gandhi "could become the Prime Minister".

Launching the election campaigns of NCP candidates from Thane (Sanjeev Naik) and Kalyan (Anand Paranjpe), Pawar repeatedly in his speech said that each and every seat was important for Congress and NCP so that "Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi could become the Prime Minister".

BJP divided the country on the religious and communal lines and its rule would lead to anarchy, the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister alleged. "The minorities would get a raw deal if BJP came to power," he claimed.

Taking a swipe at BJP's ally Shiv Sena, Pawar said that several leaders had left the party since Uddhav Thackeray took over its reins. A senior leader like Manohar Joshi was humiliated by the Sena leadership, Pawar said while claiming that several Shiv Sena leaders were in the mood to leave the party.

He further claimed that "a senior Shiv Sena leader from Thane" had approached Congress-NCP. In BJP, veterans like L K Advani and Jaswant Singh had got similar treatment, he added. Congress leader and state minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council Vasant Davkhare and Congress secretary Swaraj Jeevan Balmiki also spoke at the rally. Interestingly, NCP candidate from Kalyan, Paranjpe, was not present.

PTI