Bhandara/Nagpur (Maharashtra): After nearly 15 years, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and NCP chief Sharad Pawar Saturday shared the dais as they jointly campaigned for UPA candidates in Maharashtra.
The uncertainties of the Lok Sabha election apparently brought Pawar closer to Gandhi after he left the Congress in 1998 protesting Gandhi's Italian origin.
After leaving the Congress, Pawar floated the Nationalist Congress Party in 1999 which later became part of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance at the centre and even in Maharashtra where it is in power for the last 14 years.
Gandhi's first rally in Bhandara, Maharashtra for the general election saw Pawar joining her to campaign for the NCP candidate and union minister Praful Patel in the region affected by Maoist insurgency.
Speaking at the huge rally comprising mostly farmers and tribals, Gandhi listed the achievements of the Congress-led government at the centre for the past 10 years.