Sharad Pawar threatens to quit government, provide external support: Sources

Sharad Pawar has threatened that his party, the NCP, may quit the government and provide external support to the UPA coalition at the centre. In a letter to the Prime Minister and Congress President Sonia Gandhi after he skipped the cabinet meeting last evening, Mr Pawar wrote, "We are a small party. So it doesn't confer stature or respectability.So we need to build up our party for the future. Therefore we need to devote more time to build up our party."