Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar's comments about BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi should not be taken seriously, and that the former was saying such things because he was closely associated with the Congress.
"When the public is with us it does not matter which political party says what. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat thrice and that is a big thing," said Naidu.
"It is very evident that the people want to see him as the next prime minister of the country. In fact a lot of Congress MPs are joining BJP in Gujarat now knowing this fact," he said.
Pawar on Saturday attacked the BJP prime ministerial candidate on the 2002 riots issue, saying the entire country has seen the "mass murders" that took place in Gujarat.
"They speak of changing the face of the country but the entire country has seen how mass murders took place," Pawar said addressing a meeting to discuss the status of minorities, without naming Modi.