Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his comments on a "Rs 70,000 crore scam" by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), a day after a Pune trust selected the PM for Tilak National Award and invited Sharad Pawar for the August 1 function as chief guest.
Prominent among the invitees is rebel NCP leader Ajit Pawar, who joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra as deputy chief minister on July 2 along with eight MLAs of his camp sworn in as ministers.
"What happened to the Rs 70,000 crore scam? Who all will be there on stage? That (the NCP) party is with you," Mr Thackeray told reporters.
Addressing booth workers of the BJP in Bhopal last month, PM Modi had said that there were allegations of scams of nearly Rs 70,000 crore against the NCP, including the Maharashtra Cooperative Bank scam, the irrigation scam and the illegal mining scam.
Slamming the BJP-led Centre over the alleged misuse of probe agencies to target Opposition parties, Mr Thackeray said, "Time is cruel. When it turns against them, it will be difficult for them."
PM Modi will be conferred with Lokmanya Tilak National Award in Pune on August 1, the 103rd death anniversary of Lokmanya Tilak. Sharad Pawar has been invited to the ceremony as the chief guest, Trust president Deepak Tilak said in a release on Monday.
PM Modi has been selected for the award, comprising a memento and a citation, in recognition of his "supreme leadership and for awakening the feeling of patriotism among citizens".
Other invitees include Maharashtra Governor Ramesh Bais, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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