The NCP is in touch with the UPA allies — Trinamul Congress, DMK and National Conference — on the issues of creating a structured coordination mechanism in the ruling front and consultations with them on policy matters before the Cabinet takes a view on it.
The Sharad-Pawar-led party has decided to quit the Cabinet if the issues are not resolved in the next 48 hours. While the NCP is delinking these issues from Maharashtra where it has been sharing power with the Congress since 1999, a section of Congress MLAs in the state, in a letter addressed to PCC chief Manikrao Thakre, is said to have strongly objected to chief minister Prithviraj Chavan’s style of functioning.
NCP sources said no coordination committee meeting in Maharashtra has been held ever since Mr Chavan became CM.
The NCP ministers at the Centre — Mr Sharad Pawar and Mr Praful Patel — have stopped attending Cabinet meetings since Mr Pawar drew Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s attention to these issues in the last week. “Pawar met Dr Manmohan Singh and Soniaji but after that there is no forward movement or communication,” said a NCP leader in reply to a question here on Tuesday. “We are a responsible party and it would not behove the stature of a leader like Pawar to be absent from two successive Cabinet meetings,” he said, suggesting that Mr Pawar would like to end the suspense about his resignation. “Therefore our deadline ends tomorrow,” he said ahead of Thursday’s Cabinet meeting.
The NCP’s decision will certainly have a bearing on stability in Maharashtra as state NCP leaders feel they cannot remain in the government if Mr Pawar and Mr Patel quit from the government at the Centre.
Meanwhile, the Congress on Tuesday indicated forward movement in removing irritants in ties with the NCP.