Cong- NCP coordinate, vow to build consensus

Mumbai

After a long- drawn cold war between the two coalition partners, the Congress and the NCP have decided to solve issues with mutual consensus. This was decided at the highlevel alt145 coordinationalt39meeting between the two

partners late on Saturday night. This was the first coordination meeting between the two partners after they buried the hatchet last week with an agreement on setting up a coordination committee to ensure alt145 cohesive functioningalt39of the ruling alliance both at the Centre and in Maharashtra.

The two partners have also decided to meet once a month for better coordination in the government.

‘We have decided to meet once a month. The first meeting has been successful and the two partners have decided to solve issues by consensus. We will keep each other in the loop about the affairs of the government and take cohesive decisions,’state NCP chief Madhukar Pichad said.

Apart from Pichad, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Union Heavy Industries Minister Praful Patel, AICC in- charge of Maharashtra Mohan Prakash and MPCC chief Manikrao Thakre were part of the meeting.

The two partners have also put the bitterness of the recent past behind them and will start running the decade- old coalition on a fresh note. The much- anticipated meeting lasted for nearly two hours where critical issues of the severe drought facing the state was also discussed.

Sources pointed out that the though the meeting is being seen as successful, there wasnalt39t anything significant that came out of it. The NCP sought regular meetings of the committee to ensure smooth and effective coordination between the two coalition partners. Apparently PWD Minister Chhagan Bhujbal and Home Minister RR Patil were dropped from the committee from the NCP camp.

This is the first time in eight years of the UPA government that a coordination committee of alliance partners is being formed. During UPA- I, there was only a coordination committee between Congress and Left parties. A similar coordination committee of the two partners in the center is likely to be held in New Delhi on August 7 or 8.