Mumbai, Oct 13: The on-going verbal spat between Congress and NCP, the main partners in the ruling DF coalition in Maharashtra, appeared to have been resolved today with the Sharad Pawar-led outfit ruling out any threat to the government over the issue of foreign origin of AICC President Sonia Gandhi. "There is no acrimony among congress and NCP on the issue of foreign origin of Sonia and there is no threat to the government", Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal told reporters here. Bhujbal's statement comes in the wake of MPCC chief Ranjit Deshmukh clarifying that he had not issued any ultimatum to NCP President Sharad Pawar and had not talked about snapping ties with the coalition partner over the foreign origin issue of Sonia. Bhujbal maintained that both Congress and NCP should work closely to keep away "communal forces" like Shiv Sena and BJP at bay. "Both Congress and NCP are independent political parties and during election campaign criticism is bound to happen. But we have to take all such things in right spirit", the Deputy Chief Minister added.
NCP spokesman Praful Patel described MPCC chief Ranjit Deshmukh's climbdown as a "welcome statement". "The clarification (by Deshmukh) augurs well for the ruling coalition", Patel said adding that it would work well for the government.
Patel said "we are in the government for the last four years and we are confident that with the latest development, we will complete the remaining term".
Bureau Report