Pune, Nov 18 : Angry Nationalist Congress Party activists pounced on and blackened the face of Namdeo Jadhav, who had produced a certificate proclaiming NCP chief Sharad Pawar belonged to the OBC caste, here on Saturday.

Jadhav had come to attend a meeting at an auditorium here when a large group of NCP (SP) workers surrounded him as one of them smeared black ink on his face, even as a police constable rushed to shield him from the assault.

Once said to be a close associate of NCP and its top leaders, Jadhav has become a severe critic of the party and its leadership, and had recently stirred a row by displaying a purported certificate printed in English giving the OBC caste tag to Sharad Pawar, a Maratha.