Raj Thackeray meets Sharad Pawar ahead of MNS rally

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray met Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar today, ahead of the MNS rally here tomorrow.

Thackeray later described the meeting, at Pawar's residence in south Mumbai, as a courtesy call and not a political one.

The MNS leader, who had interviewed Pawar at a public interaction in Pune last month, is scheduled to address a rally of his party here tomorrow.

Pawar is scheduled to attend a book release event here tomorrow in presence of Raj's estranged cousin and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray.

During the interview conducted by Raj in Pune, Pawar had lamented that personal attacks had become a trend in the country's politics and disapproved of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's criticism of Jawaharlal Nehru in Parliament.

"Criticising policies is okay. But I cannot agree to a statement that Nehru had no contribution in the country's development or in strengthening its democracy. If democracy was introduced in the 12th century, the British also ruled us after that and we were slaves," Pawar had said.