Congress is ready to discuss issues with NCP: PM

However, Sonia Gandhi refuses to comment on the stand-off with the coalition partner

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the Congress was ready to discuss issues with the NCP even as Congress President Sonia Gandhi declined comments on the stand-off with the coalition partner.

"We are discussing with them (NCP)," the Prime Minister said on the trouble between the two UPA constituents over issues on which the NCP has threatened to pull out of the government.

About the possibility of forming a coordination committee for better functioning of the government, Singh said, "We are ready to discuss with NCP on issues. In politics, there is give and take."

However, Gandhi refused to comment on the issue.

"I am not going to answer any of your questions," she said when reporters asked her about the stand-off.

Reflecting her bonhomie with the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, Gandhi went along with her into her room in Parliament House after the swearing-in ceremony of new President Pranab Mukherjee. She stayed there for some time.