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Ouch! Ranjit Deshmukh eats his words
New Delhi, Oct 13: Maharashtra Congress president Ranjit Deshmukh today climbed down on the issue of Sonia Gandhi`s foreign origin saying he had never given anyultimatum to NCP president Sharad Pawar nor talked of snapping ties with the coalition partner in the state.
New Delhi, Oct 13: Maharashtra Congress president Ranjit Deshmukh today climbed down on the issue of Sonia Gandhi`s foreign origin saying he had never given any
ultimatum to NCP president Sharad Pawar nor talked of snapping ties with the coalition partner in the state.
"What I had talked about was that Pawar speaks one thing
in Maharashtra and another outside. So he should clarify and
we will consider....," Deshmukh told reporters here, recalling
what he had told the press in Mumbai on Saturday.
Asked whether he had given an ultimatum to the NCP that it would face "dire consequences" including pulling out of the coalition if Pawar failed to reconsider his remarks on the Gandhi issue, he said "no".
"No comments," were his reply to a question whether his remarks that he had not issued any ultimatum would mean that there was no crisis to the state government,
To another question about party MP Suresh Kalmadi`s demand that now was the right time to break relations with NCP, Deshmukh said this was the view of the party workers.
The PCC president denied he had resigned in the wake of the controversy. "There is no question of resignation. I have neither been asked to resign nor have I offered to resign. I have come here for discussions," he said.
A decision on continuing the relationship with NCP has to be taken by the Congress high command, he said in reply to a question whether the crisis still continued in Maharashtra as Pawar had not given up his stand.
Bureau Report
Asked whether he had given an ultimatum to the NCP that it would face "dire consequences" including pulling out of the coalition if Pawar failed to reconsider his remarks on the Gandhi issue, he said "no".
"No comments," were his reply to a question whether his remarks that he had not issued any ultimatum would mean that there was no crisis to the state government,
To another question about party MP Suresh Kalmadi`s demand that now was the right time to break relations with NCP, Deshmukh said this was the view of the party workers.
The PCC president denied he had resigned in the wake of the controversy. "There is no question of resignation. I have neither been asked to resign nor have I offered to resign. I have come here for discussions," he said.
A decision on continuing the relationship with NCP has to be taken by the Congress high command, he said in reply to a question whether the crisis still continued in Maharashtra as Pawar had not given up his stand.
Bureau Report