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.
Be Ready To Contest 225-250 Seats Maharashtra Polls: Raj Thackeray To MNS Workers Rahul Gandhi Remembers Father Rajiv Gandhi On His Death Anniversary PM Modi Pays Tribute To Former PM Rajiv Gandhi On His Death Anniversary Bangladesh Imposes Curfew, Deploys Military As 105 Die In Protests "Jindal Group Executive Showed Porn, Groped Me On Flight": Woman To NDTV Over 300 Indian Students Return Home As 105 Bangladeshis Killed In Protests Joe Biden Is The Best Person To Take On Trump, Says His Campaign Wife Among Two Jailed For Life For Man's Murder In Gurugram: Cops 1,100 Flights Cancelled In US As Microsoft Outage Disrupts Operations Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.