Pune:
Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray today met ailing cartoonist RK Laxman at his residence in Pune. Mr Thackeray was accompanied by his son Uddhav and grandson Aditya.
The 86-year-old Sena chief and the 90-year-old legendary cartoonist go back a long way. They had worked together at the Free Press Journal newspaper in Mumbai as cartoonists over 40 years back and have remained good friends ever since.
"We had nostalgic memories and Laxman wept as we recounted them," Mr Thackeray said later, talking to reporters.
The veteran leader too, like Mr Laxman, hasn't been keeping well due to age-related problems and had not moved out of Mumbai over the last two years.
Mr Laxman, meanwhile, had shifted base to Pune from Mumbai, three years ago.
Apart from talking about his friend, Mr Thackeray also spoke about the attack on Union Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar in Delhi today. The minister was slapped by a man at the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) centre in the national capital, who reportedly blamed Mr Pawar for rising prices of essential commodities.
(Read: Sharad Pawar slapped for 'price rise', NCP workers protest in Maharashtra)
The Sena chief while condemning the attack said, "Pawar is a senior leader of Maharashtra...Marathi people will not tolerate such acts."