Mumbai, May 16 (IANS): Day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed Sharad Pawar over farmers' plight, the Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief said on Thursday that when he was the Union Minister (2004-2014), he had helped the then Gujarat Chief Minister -- now the Prime Minister -- a lot for the agricultural crisis in his state.

Sharad Pawar was the Union Agriculture Minister from 2004 to 2014.

He said that on one occasion, the then Gujarat CM once called him and said he wanted to visit Israel to study the unique farming techniques there.

“He used to come to me with the problems of the agriculture sector and even took me to Gujarat. Once he wanted to visit Israel so I took him there also. Whatever Modi says now I am not concerned,” said Pawar.

Years later, Modi became the first Indian PM since Independence to visit Israel in July 2017.

The NCP (SP) supremo’s retort came a day after PM Modi again attacked Sharad Pawar -- without taking his name -- accusing him of doing nothing for the cause of farmers when he was the Union Agriculture Minister.

Even on earlier occasions during the ongoing Lok Sabha campaign, PM Modi has slammed Pawar for having abandoned the peasantry, and not doing anything for their welfare, while contending that the farmers benefited hugely during the last 10 years of the Bharatiya Janata Party government.