Under fire, Maharashtra CM meets Sonia

Under attack from his own party members, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Saturday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi but parried questions on leadership change over issues like "non-performance".

After meeting Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chavan told reporters, "I cannot comment on what they feel. I cannot comment on (the fate of) party leadership or government leadership in the state".

He said this when asked if the high command was planning a change in leadership of the organisation or the government in Maharashtra and whether the high command was satisfied with his performance.

This was Chavan's first meeting with the Congress president in the wake of reports that he has been asked to "buck up" following a "decision deficit" in his government, which has led to "non-performance". Reports claimed that the high command has told him to quickly get his act together or else it would be forced to look for a replacement.

Chavan sought to dismiss Union minister Milind Deora's comment that there was a "decision deficit" in the Maharashtra government that has led to delayed execution of projects in the state.

He said that Deora, the two-term Member of Parliament from South Mumbai, was "probably not aware" of the several decisions that have been taken by his government.

The chief minister said that his government has taken certain policy decisions which were languishing since 2000.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will be coming to Mumbai next week for two functions including one by the party, Chavan said.