Mumbai: A day after he gave the sobriquet "new Gandhian" to Anna Hazare, NCP chief Sharad Pawar on day declined to stretch the issue further.
"It is better not to speak on his (Hazare's) remarks," Pawar, who arrived here today, told reporters at a function in south Mumbai on Friday evening.
The Union Agriculture Minister thanked leaders of all political parties in Maharashtra for being 'unanimous' in their reaction to Thursday's attack on him in Delhi when a youth slapped him.
"I thank leaders of all political parties. They all took one stance and displayed a clear picture. It was the talk in Parliament," he said.
His remarks on Hazare came shortly after NCP leaders in the state launched a verbal assault on the activist.
"What kind of Gandhian is one who has the Mahatma's name on his lips but harbours a Nathuram Godse within him," NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad said, in response to Hazare's reaction to yesterday's attack on Pawar in Delhi.
Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, speaking in Pune, also seemed to join in the criticism of Hazare, saying he should not have crossed the 'level' while commenting on the attack on Pawar.
The Union Agriculture Minister had taken a dig at the activist over his reaction to the slapping incident, saying Hazare had given a "new definition" to the philosophy espoused by the Mahatama.
"He (Hazare) has a new definition about Gandhism. He is a new Gandhian," he had said, after Hazare's initial reaction to the attack on him.
"He got slapped! Only one slap?" Hazare had said to a group of journalists who broke into peals of laughter at his reaction. However, he later condemned the incident saying such acts of violence were not good.
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