Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is not contesting any seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray condemned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comment on late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, saying the "country will not forgive him for the remarks".
Referring to PM Modi's statement that Rajiv Gandhi was called "Mr Clean" by his courtiers but died as "Bhrashtachari No. 1", Mr Thackeray said on Sunday, "Hatred, endless lying and absolutely no qualms in transgressing the decorum of public life are the three characteristics that mark the term of Narendra Modi.
"This stands intensified with his latest statements against the late Rajiv Gandhi and the nation will definitely not pardon it," said Mr Thackeray.
Mr Thackeray joins several other prominent opposition leaders across the country who criticized PM Modi's statements on Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated by a Sri Lankan Tamil suicide bomber on May 21, 1991.
Last year in July, Mr Thackeray had come out in support of Congress President Rahul Gandhi's famous 'hug' to PM Modi in Parliament and termed it a 'perfect' one.
This time, the MNS chief addressed nearly a dozen political rallies in Maharashtra campaigning against PM Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah, though his own party MNS is not contesting any seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.