Pune : Activists of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Tuesday pelted stones at the convoy of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray and also waved black flags, shortly after he addressed a public meeting in Ahmednagar district.

Later, workers of both the parties clashed with each other leaving at least five injured. Police said an inspector was also hurt in the incident. Meanwhile, Thackeray escaped unhurt.

Police had to resort to lathicharge to control the situation.

The incident took place at around 8.30 pm at Bhingar in the western Maharashtra district, about 125 km from Pune.

Around 50 NCP workers had gathered at Bhingar, where Raj was visiting for party-related work, to protest against his criticism of senior party leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

The MNS chief has been critical of NCP leaders at his recent public rallies. He has especially targeted Ajit Pawar, holding him responsible for the severe drought in the state.

According to Raj, Water Resources Department, which Ajit Pawar headed between 1999 and 2009, had failed to take steps to prevent water scarcity despite spending huge amount of sums on irrigation projects.

There were also reports of clashes in other parts of the state but the same could not be confirmed. An NCP office was also reportedly vandalised.