M A I N   N E W S

NCP sticks to stand on Sonia
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 12
The Congress-NCP spat in Maharashtra is threatening to snowball into a major political showdown, with the latter refusing to reconsider its stand on Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s foreign-origin issue.

NCP spokesperson Praful Patel said “if the Congress feels that we should not stay in the government, it has a right to that decision. Every party has a right to make these decisions”.

The Congress had yesterday issued an ultimatum to NCP leader Sharad Pawar and given him a week’s time to “reconsider” his stand on Ms Sonia Gandhi’s foreign-origin issue or face “dire consequences”.

“If Mr Pawar did not change his stand towards the Congress chief, a harsh decision will be taken after seven days, including snapping of relations with the NCP in the state”, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Ranjit Deshmukh had said on yesterday.

In an election rally held in Delhi on Friday, Mr Pawar mocked at the Congress for having an “imported” leader and charged its President Sonia Gandhi with failing to fulfil the responsibilities of an Opposition leader.

The NCP today ruled out issuing any apology as sought by the Congress. “Apology for what”, Mr Patel said, adding that the Congress would decide on the course of action as it had issued the ultimatum.

“We are a coalition partner of the Congress in Maharashtra. But in other parts of the country, we are fighting against both the BJP and the Congress... we will fight separately in the forthcoming Assembly elections”, he said.

On the foreign-origin issue, he said the NCP’s position on it had not changed.

The NCP had come into existence four years ago, when Mr Pawar and former Lok Sabha Speaker P.A. Sangma raised questions regarding Ms Sonia Gandhi as the Congress leader on grounds of being of foreign origin.

Congress spokesperson Jaipal Reddy had termed Mr Pawar’s remarks as “wholly erroneous and misleading”, and charged him with going soft on the BJP. In Mumbai, the MPCC chief had said that “Mr Pawar has no right to talk about Ms Sonia Gandhi’s origin and he has the habit of taking advantage of positions he has held. He is simply an opportunist”.