Sharad Pawar with Bal Thackeray in Mumbai on Wednesday. (PTI)

Mumbai, May 11 (PTI): Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray tonight shared a platform with NCP leader Sharad Pawar after a gap of 23 years and urged the Union minister to “seriously consider the coming together of Marathas”.

“History has shown us that Marathas fought among themselves. Even Muslims did not indulge in internal fights to that extent. Marathas should come together,” Thackeray said, pointing to Pawar, who was on the dais along with George Fernandes, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Amitabh Bachchan.

Pawar said the recent history of Maharashtra would not be complete without the Sena chief.

Travelling down memory lane, Pawar said he and Thackeray had embarked on a project to launch a news magazine like Time but the project flopped.

Pawar also spoke of the hospitality he received at Thackeray’s residence, especially when the Sena chief’s wife Meenatai was alive.

Vajpayee, who released the book Bal Keshav Thackeray ? A Photobiography, made an oblique reference to the Sena leader’s nephew Raj as the “rising moon on the horizon when the sun (Bal Thackeray) is about to set”, raising many an eyebrow.

The Sena chief's son and party executive president Uddhav, who is considered Raj’s political rival, was present on the dais. Raj, the force behind the book, was the organiser of the event.

Bachchan recalled the help he had received from Thackeray in times of personal crisis. Thackeray said Bachchan was referring to the way the actor was hounded when V.P. Singh was Prime Minister.