Pawar returns to rousing welcome in Satara

Massive crowds in Satara and Kolhapur districts gave a huge welcome to ‘‘son of the soil’’ Sharad Pawar on Tuesday during his first visit to the region after a surgery in Mumbai, when he addressed a series of election rallies. ‘‘Doctors have asked me rest for some days, but how could I keep away from the happenings,’’ said the NCP leader.

Pawar, the architect of the spectacular victory of the undivided Congress in 1998, wants to repeat the feat. His supporters are confident of a total sweep for the NCP-Congress combine in western Maharashtra.

‘‘The BJP-led NDA has to be defeated at any cost. Otherwise, the nation will face serious consequences,’’ he tells a rally here. After the massive rally at Bindu Chowk, Congress leaders concede: ‘‘Indisputably, Pawar is the only leader with a mass base in all parts of the state.’’ Said Congress-NCP candidate Sadashiv Mandlik, ‘‘He knows the pulse of the common man.’’