Congress, NCP must work together, says Chavan

In the backdrop of a face-off between the Congress and its alliance partner, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Thursday called for a mutual resolution of issues through close-door discussions instead of airing grievances in public.

Mr. Chavan was speaking to the press here on Thursday, a day after the two parties locked horns on the sidelines of a Cabinet meeting.

“In coalition governments, some issues do crop up. [The Congress and NCP] are independent parties with independent strategies. We have a pre-poll alliance [in General and State Assembly elections] and it is natural that there are some complaints and grievances. There was a meeting yesterday of senior party leaders from both sides to iron out the problems. We will see that such incidents don't happen in future, that issues are resolved mutually through discussion and not brought out in public,” he said.

Trouble arose after Congress MLC Hussain Dalwai's said on Tuesday that the NCP orchestrated the September 2009 Sangli riots before the Assembly elections to harm the electoral prospects of his party.

Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Manikrao Thakre said Mr. Dalwai was asked to desist from making such statements. “Neither party should pass such remarks about its coalition partner,” he said.

While emphasising that the parties should work together, Mr. Chavan said since the Congress' seat share was more, it had more responsibility than the NCP.

Asked whether either of the warring parties was waiting for a wrong move from the other, he said, “I will never blink. It is my duty to see that the alliance works and that the people's manifesto is implemented.”

‘Janta Durbar'

Mr. Chavan presided over the first “Janta Darbar” organised by the MPCC on Thursday. The Congress proposed to organise two public interactions with its Ministers each week to address people's concerns. A number of applications were accepted by the party office.

Mr. Chavan said inquiries would be instituted against district administrations if people were forced to come to Mumbai with work that ought to be resolved at the district level.

He spoke of constituting a development fund for Mumbai. Property prices were rising in areas where the metro and mono rail were being constructed. He said a charge could be levied on developers in these areas and the money could go for funding Mumbai's development.