Vikhe Patil hits out at Pawar over remark on late father

Senior Maharashtra Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil Thursday said NCP chief Sharad Pawar's comments on his late father were "unwarranted".

Addressing a press conference here, Vikhe-Patil also described as personal the decision of his son Sujay to join the BJP.

The Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly said that since Pawar despised his family so much, he would not campaign for the NCP candidate from Ahmednagar Lok Sabha seat.

The Congress and NCP have reached a pre-poll alliance for the next month's Lok Sabha polls.

Pawar recently alluded to how he ensured the defeat of Balasaheb Vikhe Patil (in an election in early 1990s) and that he also remembered the lawsuit the late Congress leader filed against him.

Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil is son of Balasaheb Vikhe Patil, a former Union minister.

"Sharad Pawar's comment against my father was unwarranted and uncalled for. If Pawar despises my family so much, I would rather not campaign for the NCP candidate from Ahmednagar," he said.

He said he will campaign in other parts of Maharashtra, as decided by his party. "I will abide by the party high command's decision," he added.

His son Sujay Vikhe Patil, a neurosurgeon, on Tuesday joined the BJP in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who said he will recommend his name for the Ahmednagar LS seat to BJP leadership.

Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said the Ahmednagar Lok Sabha constituency was not the core issue of the seat-sharing talks between his party and the NCP.

"We wanted both the parties to win more seats, hence we held talks on whether some seats can be exchanged. Sujay's candidature was not the only issue," he said.

He also dismissed the possibility of his son's candidature on BJP ticket affecting the overall performance of Congress and NCP nominees in the state.