MUMBAI, NOV 4: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar was non-committal on the demand by NCP State leader and Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal that all official files submitted to the Chief Minister should be routed through him, while Vilasrao Deshmukh refused comment.On the one hand, Pawar held that since the Chief Minister is the head of the Cabinet, it was the responsibility of every Cabinet member to maintain the decorum of the coveted post and also ensure that his prerogatives and privileges are not diluted. On the other he maintained that since it was a coalition government, both the Chief Minister as well as Deputy CM should work in coordination and take decisions on contentious issues jointly.``I have asked all the NCP Cabinet members to extend full cooperation to the Chief Minister and that THE Congress as well as NCP ministers should work in unison in the interest of the State,'' Pawar said after a marathon meeting of the newly inducted NCP Cabinet members.Pawar came down heavily on some of the his party's Cabinet members for rushing to the media to air their grievances. ``Media is not the forum to discuss internal problems. They should be discussed at the party forum,'' he said. In a sudden volte face, Pawar said his party will not exert any pressure on the Chief Minister for further pruning of the 55-member coalition ministry. He denied that he exerted any pressure while pruning the ministry. ``The decision on dropping the Cabinet members was taken by the respective parties. I am not involved in deciding the names of the Congress,'' he said.Dismissed minister Satish Chaturvedi had alleged that Pawar was responsible for his removal from the cabinet, since he wanted to settle previous political score.``My personal opinion is that Deshmukh has done his best to accommodate all factions of the Democratic Front and NCP will ensure that no further hurdles are created for the Chief Minister. Now the major task before the Chief Minister will be to restore the credibility of the Government, which was almost lost during the Sena-BJP rule,'' Pawar.The emphasis of the new government should be on improving the financial situation and takes all possible steps to attract investments in the industrial and infrastructural sectors.Pawar said the national executive of the party will be held at New Delhi on November 11 and 12, followed by the meeting of the state executive at Pune on November 13 and 14 to discuss organisational matters.``Chhagan Bhujbal has requested that he should be relieved since he is overburdened by the government work. Simultaneously, there is a need to appoint a new spokesman, since Vasant Chavan, the present incumbent has been inducted into the Cabinet. Both the decisions will be taken at the Pune meeting,'' Pawar added.Replying to a question, Pawar said that the general perception in the party was against forging any alliance with Congress outside Maharashtra in future.``Everyone in the NCP feels that it should not have alliance with Congress outside Maharashtra. In this connection, I agree with the views expressed by P S Sangma,'' Pawar remarked.The NCP president declined to comment on the demand made by the Congress to drop the name of Rajiv Gandhi from the Bofors chargesheet, stating that the matter is sub judice. On the visit by the Pope John Paul II, Pawar said since he has been invited by the Centre, it was its responsibility to provide him necessary security. ``It will be the responsibility of the Centre to provide him adequate security,'' he said.It was perhaps because of the friendly noises from Pawar that Vilasrao did not queer the pitch on the NCP's demand for showing all files to Deputy CM Pawar and Vilasrao had a meeting at Sahyadri, their first after the alliance came about, after which the latter brushed aside the latest controversy: ``I have no comments on the demand made by Bhujbal. I don't want to be dragged into any controversy.'' Top
