NCP president Sharad Pawar has praised Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray as a "soft-spoken person" who doesn't back out when faced with responsibility.

The former Union minister also averred that the Nationalist Congress Party may have differences with the Congress, but still swears by the ideologies of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. Speaking to Marathi news-portal 'Mumbai Tak', Pawar also stated that it was Sonia Gandhi who finally decided that the Congress could join hands with the Sena along with the NCP to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra.