The much-talked about UPA Coordination Committee is expected to be in place before the monsoon session of Parliament which begins on August 8. The first meeting of the panel is likely to be held either on August 7 -- after the Vice Presidential election -- or on August 8, a senior Congress leader told ‘Express’.
This comes a week after the Congress yielding to NCP’s demand for setting up a coordination committee to ensure cohesive functioning of the ruling alliance.
The assurance by the Congress came a week after NCP chief Sharad Pawar and party leader Praful Patel threatened to pull out of the government. After the meeting of Pawar and Patel with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on July 25, it was decided to set up “an effective coordination mechanism” in the UPA to be headed by Sonia. However, none of the allies have got invitation for the Coordination Committee meeting.
Both T R Baalu (DMK) and Praful Patel said they were not aware of the development. This is the first time in eight years of UPA rule that a coordination committee of alliance partners is being formed. During UPA-I, there was only a coordination committee between the Congress and Left parties. A meeting of the Congress-NCP coordination committee in Maharashtra, where the two parties are sharing power since 1999, is expected to take place on August 2.