Thiruvananthapuram, Sept 22 (IANS) In a sharp swipe at Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Kerala state Congress president Ramesh Chennithala termed the central minister an opportunist.

Reacting to questions on the new found alliance between Pawar and veteran politician K. Karunakaran, Chennithala said: "In order to cling to power, Pawar has hobnobbed even with the Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena. He is one who is more concerned about holding sway in Maharashtra state politics and for that he will go to any extent."

According to the state Congress president, Pawar can never claim to have a Congress culture because he had "opposed former prime minister Indira Gandhi, haunted Rajiv Gandhi all along and attacked even Sonia Gandhi".

Last week, Pawar and Karunakaran discussed a future alliance under the banner of unifying all politicians who have a Congress culture.