Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray flayed NCP chief Sharad Pawar for linking the Malegaon blast accused with Hindu organisations.

"You incessantly raise Malegaon blast issue and defame Hindus. Why should Hindus vote for you?" Thackeray said in an interview published in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

"Why do you keep saying there have been no blasts in the country after Malegaon? Did not the 26/11 attacks take place after Malegaon blast?" Thackeray said, referring to Pawar's reported remarks that after the arrest of the blast accused, including Sadhavi Pragya Singh Thakur and others there have been no blasts in the country.

Thackeray claimed that the 'Marathi Prime Minister' was his idea. "When Pawar had come on the Sena platform, we had declared that you (Pawar) handle Delhi, we will look after Maharashtra. What was wrong in this proposal? Today, he is with Congress and is also flirting with the Third Front," he said.

"The Yadavs in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar unite under the 'Hindi' banner. But if we attempt the same experiment as 'Marathis', we are branded regional chauvinists," Thackeray said.

Thackeray's remarks are being seen as an indication that the Sena has distanced itself from Pawar's Prime Ministerial ambitions.