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NCP dares Congress to pull out of Maharashtra coalition

"Our basic stand of June 1999 that a person of foreign origin should not become prime minister cannot be compromised," party spokesman Nasim Siddiqui told reporters in Mumbai.

He said the criticism by Congress politicians, including Maharashtra unit president Govind Adik, of NCP general secretary P A Sangma for his recent remarks "was uncalled for".

"The Maharashtra unit of the NCP endorses Sangma's views on the issue word by word. If on this issue Congress wants to pull out of DF, all alternatives are open for it," he said.

Siddiqui said the NCP was committed to keeping the "communal" saffron combine out of power in Maharashtra. But "the frequent threats to us that on Sonia's issue we can walk out of the coalition are not acceptable to us".

He also said the NCP would not mind any other Congress politician replacing Chief Minister Vilas Deshmukh. "Our understanding is with the Congress to run a coalition. Change in the CLP [Congress Legislature Party] leadership is their internal matter."

He denied any meeting between NCP president Sharad Pawar and senior Congress politician Suresh Kalmadi.

Meanwhile, the Congress termed as "unfortunate" the stand taken by some independent MLAs that their support should not be taken for granted in the event of a change in the chief ministership and said it would not succumb to pressure.

"The independents had extended support to the Democratic Front coalition and not to a particular leader," state Congress chief Adik said.

They must withdraw the statement, he said, adding that it was a virtual challenge to the party high command.

Eleven independent legislators, including nine ministers, had issued the statement on Wednesday.

"They [the independents] owe their ministerships to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Without her consent they could never have made it. They must take corrective measures and never repeat the mistake," Adik said.

PTI

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