Mumbai: After a fortnight of bickering with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray appeared to have softened his stance here on Monday.
"I don't want to fight with the NCP... I will go to Pune March 7 (Thursday), but will not hold the rally there," Thackeray told mediapersons here while responding to a question on his challenge to conduct a rally in Pune, the bastion of NCP and the Pawar family.
"I had said this because the NCP had dared me to go to Pune for the programme," an apparently mollified Thackeray said.
Pune NCP leader Ankush Kakde had warned the MNS chief and threatened that he (Thackeray) would not be allowed to enter the city.
However, following an appeal for calm, first made by state NCP chief Madhukarrao Pichad and then by NCP president and union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, the matter has cooled down.
Since the past fortnight, at his well-attended rallies in different parts of the state, Thackeray directly targeted NCP's Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and blamed him for the drought in the state.
IANS
First Published: Monday, March 04, 2013, 20:30