Pune: On the campaign trail in western Maharashtra, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and BJP leader Narendra Modi derided each other, with the Maharashtra strongman describing the saffron campaigner as the "frontline leader" of communal forces in the country.
Modi hit back, saying Pawar has been hoodwinked by Congress on the issue of Prime Ministership.
The Gujarat Chief Minister, who launched the BJP-Shiv Sena's poll drive here last night, said Pawar who has spent many years in Congress failed to understand the stratagem of that party to keep him out of the race for the top post.
Referring to recent statement by Pawar that a Maharashtrian should get an opportunity to become PM, Modi said by making Pratibha Patil the President, Congress employed a "shrewd ploy" to sideline the NCP president shutting doors on his prime ministerial ambitions.
The seasoned politician in Pawar, however, failed to gauge the Congress game, Modi added.
In a sarcastic vein, he said, "if Pawar had any substance, he should at least see to it that a Maharashtrian becomes captain of the Indian cricket team."
Continuing his marathon election meetings in neighbouring Ahmednagar district, Pawar branded Modi as a "frontline leader" of communal forces in the country, who was responsible for destroying lives of hundreds of people in
Gujarat, maligning the image of that state.
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