Never! Till my death I can never again work with a dictator like Sharad Pawar or join his party.

What if you win the seat and the UPA forms a government at the Centre and you get feelers from Pawar that you will get a ministry?

Not even then. The question of working with Pawar doesn't even cross my mind now. You can take my word for it.

You seem to have had a very bitter experience in the NCP.

My fight with Pawar is not associated with the denial of ticket to me. I had raised several uncomfortable issues with him on the matter of India's security, welfare of farmers, on the question of using sugar cooperatives to meet selfish motives and his prime ministerial aspirations.

I often used to tell him that he can never become prime minister with just 10 MPs in his kitty. He would not even become PM if his party were to get all 48 (Lok Sabha) seats in Maharashtra.

I have never seen all the Maharashtra MPs come together even to fight against the injustice meted out to Maharashtra by the Centre.

He never took his MPs in confidence and tell them about our party's stance on various important issues including that of the foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi -- the reason for the NCP's birth. Now that her foreign origin is no more an issue with him, the NCP has lost the reason to exist.

Pawar has lost his credibility and all political parties know this. He has become a political pariah who nobody wants to trust now.

I am sure the party will be annihilated in this election. The NCP will become a one-man party in Maharashtra soon and that will be Sharad Pawar.

Image: Mandlik on his way home after the rally. His car sports the flags of parties supporting him.

Also see: The battle for Bangalore South | India Votes 2009

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