"I will say this is the joke of the year," Pawar retorted sharply, reacting to Uddhav's assertion that the NCP boss and Union minister had sent feelers to him to join the Opposition alliance.
"I knew intimately late Balasaheb Thackeray. He was a mature person. I feel sorry that the person, who has taken the responsibility of running an organisation set up by Balasaheb Thackeray, his level of thinking is this... Making irresponsible statements. That's the reason that his organisation, day by day, is going down," Pawar said.
"We (NCP and Congress) have been continuously working progressively together. We are defeating them. We are running a government here (in Maharashtra). That's why they have become frustrated and that's why they are making this type of statement," Pawar said.
Uddhav had, in an interview published in party mouthpiece 'Saamana' and during an interaction with a TV channel, said he and other leaders of 'Mahayuti' (Grand Alliance) in Maharashtra, including BJP's Gopinath Munde and RPI's Ramdas Athavale, had thwarted attempts by the NCP veteran to join NDA.