NEW DELHI, NOV 5: Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, whose 18-day-old Congress-NCP coalition ministry saw many a crisis, on Friday said there were no more contentious issues and the Government would have a smooth sailing in the winter session of the Assembly next month."Our relations with NCP are cordial. I had a fruitful meeting with NCP president Sharad Pawar on Thursday. There are no other issues. From our side, we are trying to take everyone into confidence," he said in an informal chat with reporters.Asked whether he was planning to bring NCP closer to Congress and whether he felt that `homecoming' of Pawar was possible, Deshmukh said, "I don't know. We (Congress and NCP) have only decided to work together. That is the only understanding. I am only trying to run the government."To a query whether there would be further pruning of his Cabinet, he said Pawar himself had stated on Thursday that his party would not ask for further reduction in the size of the ministry. Deshmukh's remarks came closeon the heels of announcement by Leader of the Opposition in the State Legislative Council Nitin Gadkari (BJP) that the Opposition planned to bring a non-official resolution in the State Legislature next month seeking a bar on persons of foreign origin holding high offices of Prime Minister and President or Chief Minister of any state.Gadkari had said earlier that the mandate in the Maharashtra elections was anti-Congress and anti-Sonia Gandhi as the BJP-Shiv Sena combine and NCP had contested the polls on the foreign origin issue. The Chief Minister announced that his government would bring a white paper on the state of the economy next week.Deshmukh as well as several of the coalition leaders had earlier alleged that the erstwhile BJP-Shiv Sena government had brought the State on the verge of bankruptcy.Deshmukh was here to attend a special meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to take stock of the situation in cyclone-hit Orissa and to decide relief and rehabilitation measures.TheMaharashtra Chief Minister said he would present a cheque of Rs. five crore to his Orissa counterpart Giridhar Gamang towards relief work. The State would also send 50,000 saris and equal number of dhoties and bedsheets worth Rs 2.5 crore.
