Pawar's daughter meets Bal Thackeray express gratitude

"This was a family visit. We have close relations with the Thackerays for the last several years. I know Uddhav, Raj from my birth. And after the incident in Delhi, the Thackerays stood by us firmly," she said.

"I felt it was my duty to visit and express gratitude to them on behalf of my family."

Pawar was slapped by a youth in New Delhi earlier this week. It was condemned across the party lines, and Bal Thackeray had said that the incident was reprehensible.

Asked if she carried any message from her father -- whose party, NCP, is a partner in the ruling coalition with Congress in Maharashtra -- for Bal Thackeray, Sule said, "Balasaheb is like my uncle....My father can meet him directly. He would not need me to be intermediary."