Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Saturday hit back at Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar for saying that he did not discuss major issues like the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant (JNPP) with "kids" — an oblique reference to his son Uddhav Thackeray.
Pawar made the statement in response to a query last on Thursday on Shiv Sena's opposition to the 9,900-MW JNPP coming up in Ratnagiri district, around 375 km South of Mumbai. "Uddhav has taken up the mission to oppose JNPP and will continue to oppose it. But you (Pawar) will not discuss it with him. So, enlighten us, with what kind of 'men' you usually discuss major political issues?" Thackeray demanded in a sharp editorial in party mouthpiece Saamna.
In a sarcastic tone, referring to prominent Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders, Thackeray said that for Pawar, his nephew Ajit Pawar must be like 'Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru', Praful Patel was 'Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel', R.R. Patil was like 'G.B. Pant', Jayant Patil was like 'Nanasaheb Patil' and alliance partner and chief minister Prithviraj Chavan was 'S.M. Joshi'.
Thackeray suggested that if Pawar could not discuss major issues even with these leaders, then he should talk it over with world leaders like Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin or Nicolas Sarkozy. Stung by Pawar's remark, even Shiv Sena's executive president Uddhav Thackeray hit back at the NCP chief here on Friday evening.
The 51-year-old Uddhav said that Pawar should first verify the age of his own relatives and allies before speaking about the children of other politicians. "What is the age of Supriya Sule-Pawar and Ajit Pawar, or for that matter, even Rahul Gandhi," Uddhav asked. Referring to Shiv Sena's strong opposition to JNPP, Pawar said here on Thursday evening he was puzzled why it was doing so. "Perhaps they are pursuing a different ideology. But I do not meet my senior friend nowadays and I don't discuss these issues with kids," Pawar said, without taking the name of either Sena chief Bal Thackeray or his son Uddhav.