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Journalism of Courage
Setting a deadline for the Congress,the NCP has said all its concerns regarding the functioning of the coalition governments in New Delhi and Mumbai should be addressed by Thursday morning. If the issues are not resolved by tomorrow evening or Thursday morning,NCP ministers will not attend the Cabinet meeting and there will be no going back from that point,said NCP sources.
The NCP is also learnt to be in touch with other UPA partners like the DMK,the TMC and the SP. DMK leader T R Baalu called on NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday morning but both sides refused to disclose details of the meeting. NCP sources,however,said the other UPA partners were in agreement with the partys stand over the functioning of the coalition government.
While the Congress is amenable to setting up a coordination mechanism headed by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi at the Centre,party sources said the NCPs demand regarding the Maharashtra government was the main sticking point.
NCP sources said party leaders from Maharashtra were of the view that if it pulled out of the UPA government at the Centre,it would become untenable for the Maharashtra NCP to be a part of the state government.
While Congress sources maintained that various scams allegedly involving NCP ministers were the main reason for the current standoff,NCP sources said that all these allegations did not have any concrete evidence. A section of the Congress is spreading canards, said an NCP leader.
Referring to a letter written by some Congress MLAs to state unit chief Manikrao Thakre purportedly blaming Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan for his indecision,NCP sources said this validated their stand about the functioning of the government.
On Tuesday,senior NCP leader and Union Minister Praful Patel clarified the party is not seeking any change of guard in Maharashtra.
Order special audit against NCP ministers,BJP leader tells CAG
Accusing senior NCP leader and Maharashtra PWD Minister Chhagan Bhujbal and Irrigation Minister Sunil Tatkare of indulging in corrupt practices,parking of scam money,benami transactions,and grabbing government land,BJP leader Kirit Somaiya on Tuesday petitioned the CAG demanding a special audit of various expenditures and permissions approved by both the ministers. We would request to order special audit to protect thousands of crores loss to the government, Somaiya has requested in his petition to CAG Vinod Rai.
