Maharashtra BJP chief will need 12 years to do PhD on me: Sharad Pawar

Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil will need at least 12 years to do a "PhD" on me, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said here on Sunday.

The veteran politician was interacting with college youths at a function organised by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Wadala in Mumbai.

"Generally, it takes three years to complete a PhD after completion of post-graduation. I think Chandrakant Patil would need 10-12 years to complete this thesis on me," Pawar said while replying to the query of a youth who sought his reaction on Patil's comments on February 14.

Taking potshots at Pawar's style of politics, Patil had said, "Despite having very few MPs from his party, Pawar has managed to remain at the center stage of national politics.

"He manages to tackle Uddhav Thackeray, Raj Thackeray, Sonia Gandhi at one point in time. I am curious to know all these skills of Pawar saheb and if I am allowed to do a Ph.D. despite being a graduate, I will be happy to do a PhD on him," Patil had said.

Meanwhile, Pawar said he would speak to authorities about the time-table of Combined Entrance Test (CET) to ensure that students do not lose their precious time.

"If someone loses his or her eight months, it's a risk to their career. To save precious time of students, I would speak to authorities about the CET and its time-table," he said.

The NCP chief also welcomed the elections at college campuses.

"Democracy offers a chance to speak and win elections. I am in favour of conducting elections for the selection of student representative at the college level. I will speak with state officials regarding the same issue," he said.