Sharad Pawar's comment that the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is inconsistent has irked the Maharashtra Congress. The party's state working president and minister in the coalition government, Yashomati Thakur, said on Saturday that the MVA leaders should refrain from talking about the top leadership of the Congress if they want the government to be stable.

A fiery Thakur is considered part of the "Rahul Brigade". She said she had read an alliance leader's interview, apparently the one being promoted by a Marathi daily as an exclusive interaction with Pawar, to be published on the NCP boss's 80th birthday on December 12. The excerpts of the talk have been released. The question was asked in reference to former American President Barack Obama's observation that Rahul lacked either the aptitude or the passion to master the subject despite being eager to impress the teacher. Pawar said that Obama had crossed a line by talking about a leader from other country, but added that Gandhi was inconsistent as a leader.