New Delhi:
The ruling UPA's coordination committee of allies will meet today for the first time since Mamata Banerjee's walkout from the alliance and amid a new crisis in Maharashtra where the Nationalist Congress Party appears split wide open over Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's resignation.
Though NCP chief Sharad Pawar has repeatedly assured the Congress over the last two days that that he will not let events in his party affect the state government they run together, the politics playing out in Mumbai has also brought to the fore the cracks in the coalition.
Ajit Pawar resigned on Tuesday over allegations against him in an Irrigation scam. The alleged scam that has benched Mr Pawar is based on his term as Water Resources Minister of Maharashtra from 1999 to 2009. A state Economic Survey showed that 40,000 crores have been spent in the last 10 years on irrigation, but only an additional 0.1% land benefitted. The NCP, along with the Congress, has co-governed Maharashtra for 13 years now. Sources say NCP leaders blame Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and his team for leaking information against NCP ministers as part of his effort to clean up a coalition that been held responsible for a series of scams.
Sharad Pawar's deputy, Praful Patel, has said though that the Ajit Pawar issue will not be raised at today's UPA meeting.
It was the NCP and an earlier sulk with the Congress for not consulting allies that had led to the setting up of the coordination committee last month. The panel, which is chaired by Sonia Gandhi, has met twice since then - it aims at ensuring proper functioning and coordination within the UPA. Leaders of all UPA allies are part of this committee. Both Mr Pawar and his deputy Mr Patel represent the NCP on the panel.
At today's meeting, the UPA allies will make an attempt to formulate a coherent response to the Opposition's concerted attacks over the tough economic decisions the government has taken over the last few weeks.
This is the first meeting of the committee after Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress pulled out of the UPA last week. The Trinamool Congress withdrew support to the government protesting its decisions on FDI in multi-brand retail, diesel price hike and cap on subsidised domestic LPG cylinders.
A meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Tuesday endorsed the government's initiatives with Sonia Gandhi saying the steps were "very necessary" to bring the economy back on the rails.
Though NCP chief Sharad Pawar has repeatedly assured the Congress over the last two days that that he will not let events in his party affect the state government they run together, the politics playing out in Mumbai has also brought to the fore the cracks in the coalition.
Ajit Pawar resigned on Tuesday over allegations against him in an Irrigation scam. The alleged scam that has benched Mr Pawar is based on his term as Water Resources Minister of Maharashtra from 1999 to 2009. A state Economic Survey showed that 40,000 crores have been spent in the last 10 years on irrigation, but only an additional 0.1% land benefitted. The NCP, along with the Congress, has co-governed Maharashtra for 13 years now. Sources say NCP leaders blame Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and his team for leaking information against NCP ministers as part of his effort to clean up a coalition that been held responsible for a series of scams.
Sharad Pawar's deputy, Praful Patel, has said though that the Ajit Pawar issue will not be raised at today's UPA meeting.
It was the NCP and an earlier sulk with the Congress for not consulting allies that had led to the setting up of the coordination committee last month. The panel, which is chaired by Sonia Gandhi, has met twice since then - it aims at ensuring proper functioning and coordination within the UPA. Leaders of all UPA allies are part of this committee. Both Mr Pawar and his deputy Mr Patel represent the NCP on the panel.
At today's meeting, the UPA allies will make an attempt to formulate a coherent response to the Opposition's concerted attacks over the tough economic decisions the government has taken over the last few weeks.
This is the first meeting of the committee after Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress pulled out of the UPA last week. The Trinamool Congress withdrew support to the government protesting its decisions on FDI in multi-brand retail, diesel price hike and cap on subsidised domestic LPG cylinders.
A meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Tuesday endorsed the government's initiatives with Sonia Gandhi saying the steps were "very necessary" to bring the economy back on the rails.
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