Even after NCP leader Sharad Pawar met UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reached out to Pawar, the Congress-NCP crisis continued on Friday with NCP leaders deciding to meet again on July 23 to decide the future course of action. After the day-long deliberations did not yield much results, the talks between the leaders of the two UPA allies are likely to continue on Saturday.
Though the Congress tried to downplay the rift by saying that all the issues with the party will be solved through talks, the NCP was adamant in its stand for proper treatment in the UPA for smaller parties.
After Pawar and Praful Patel abstained from the Cabinet meeting to express their protest, Pawar shot off a letter to Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister threatening to quit the government and supporting it from outside. According to sources, in his letter Pawar said, “We are a small party. So it doesn’t confer stature or respectability. So we need to build our party for the future. Therefore, we need to devote more time to build our party.”
Pawar met Sonia Gandhi on Friday morning and is understood to have explained the party’s grievances, including lack of consultation on various issues both in Delhi and Maharashtra.
The PM, on his part, reached out to Pawar saying that he’s a very valued colleague and that his knowledge, wisdom and experience are a great asset to his government. Later, the Congress met and discussed the issue. Sources said the problem would be solved since the matter was more to do with coordination in the government than any fight for the number two position in the Cabinet.