NCP wants coordination committee meet on drought, civic polls

Mumbai: The NCP has asked Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan to convene a meeting of the Congress-NCP co-ordination committee to discuss the drought situation, farmers` package and tie-up for the elections of mayor, deputy mayor and municipal council presidents.

State NCP unit president Sunil Tatkare, in a letter to the Chief Minister yesterday, urged that the meeting be convened at the earliest to ensure better co-ordination, party spokesman Nawab Malik told reporters here today. "Due to lack of co-ordination, local Congress-NCP units join hands with rivals to bag the mayor, deputy mayor and municipal council presidents` posts. To avoid this, we want to discuss the issue so that unpleasant incidents can be avoided. The co-ordination can be worked out before the election schedule is announced," he said. When asked about Samajwadi Party`s proposal for an alliance with Congress-NCP, Malik said, "Coming together of like-minded parties would be good."