Coalition pointers

The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) may be allies in ruling coalitions at the Centre and in Maharashtra but they rarely bypass an opportunity to score brownie points off each other. The government has come under pressure in Maharashtra following the murder of additional collector Yashwant Sonawane by the oil mafia in Nashik district. Despite this, Congress minister Patangrao Kadam took a swipe at state home minister R R Patil of the NCP at a public meeting, asking him to catch the big fish and not just the small ones during the crackdown against adulteration. The trigger was the arrest of small traders and operators during the police drive against those adulterating oil and milk and those illegally excavating sand.