After truce with Congress, Sharad Pawar back at work

New Delhi: A day after he abandoned his threat to quit the government, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar was back at work at the Krishi Bhawan today. Mr Pawar and his deputy and cabinet colleague Praful Patel had been missing office since Friday last after relations between their party, the NCP, and the Congress reached breaking point.  But the standoff was resolved yesterday after Mr Pawar met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

The truce happened after the Congress agreed to set up a coordination committee to ensure its allies are consulted and involved in important decisions. After a meeting with Mrs Gandhi and the PM, Mr Patel, read out a joint statement: "After deliberations, it was decided to set up an effective coordination mechanism very soon to ensure the cohesive functioning of the UPA... and to ensure UPA allies meet once a month to discuss policy and other issues." He said a similar coordination committee would be created shortly in Mumbai as well, where the NCP and the Congress co-govern the state.  

Mr Patel, who is the Heavy Industries Minister, left for London last night, hours after the stalemate was resolved.

In Mumbai today, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan seemed to be brushing his recent coalition  troubles under the carpet saying he didn't know of "any issues beyond coordination".

"I spoke to the state chief (Manikrao Thakre) I spoke to Praful Patel. We used to meet informally for coordination. Now we have decided to formally form a coordination committee  that will meet with a proper agenda," he said.

The fact that the NCP was allowed to share this statement, signed by the Congress president and the PM, is seen as a face-saving gesture granted to Mr Pawar's party.

Mr Pawar's party, the NCP, has been steadily retreating from the aggressive stand it took last week, when he wrote to the PM and implied that the NCP may provide external support to the ruling coalition which is led by the Congress. The Prime Minister told NDTV on Wednesday morning, "We are ready to speak to the NCP (Mr Pawar's party) on any issue that concerns them...in coalition politics, there is give and take." His comments came after a conciliatory statement made by Mr Patel. "We have not issued any ultimatum to the Congress....all issues can be resolved through dialogue," said Mr Patel to NDTV earlier in the day.

Like Mr Pawar, he skipped the last Cabinet meeting on Thursday; neither minister had been seen at work since Friday. NCP leaders said their party was treated like a rubber stamp in Delhi, denied of any real say in major appointments or policies.

In Maharashtra, where the Congress and the NCP share power, tempers flared.  Mr Patel said his party's ministers felt they were not shown any respect by the Congress. The NCP also faulted Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan for indecision and under-performance. Then yesterday, Mr Patel said he had not asked for a change in leadership in Maharashtra - sources say the Congress played hardball and refused to pressure Mr Chavan to alter his plans to increase accountability and transparency in government departments.

Last week, Mr Pawar's note to the PM and Mrs Gandhi catalogued his party's grievances; NCP leaders talked tough. Mr Patel publicly accused the Congress of misreporting the facts of the dispute. He said it was incorrectly being stated that Mr Pawar was upset because he was not seated next to the PM at recent cabinet meets - that position, reserved for the second-most senior cabinet member, used to be occupied by Pranab Mukherjee and was taken by Defence Minister AK Antony after Mr Mukherjee quit the government to run successfully for President of India.