Maharashtra govt stable, says Pawar

Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today said the current row between the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) after the zila parishad and municipal corporation elections in Maharashtra would not affect the stability of the ruling coalition government in the state.

“There is no need to worry. There is no threat to the state government,” Pawar said when asked whether the latest round of bickering between the allies would threaten stability of the state government. He was talking to reporters at Navi Mumbai after a function.

State NCP president Madhukar Pichad had earlier lashed out at the Congress for getting its candidate elected as the leader of opposition in the Thane civic body with Shiv Sena’s support. The NCP has more councillors in the house than the Congress, and both had contested the Thane civic polls together.

Pichad had also demanded to know from the Congress whether it was interested in continuing the alliance with his party. State Congress president Manikrao Thakre had said the decision had been taken at the local level in Thane.

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had said on Friday that friction between the two partners would be discussed in the meeting of co-ordination committee. Earlier, the NCP had joined hands with the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party to defeat the Congress candidates in the election of presidents and vice presidents of zila parishads.