By IANS,
Mumbai : A tussle between the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) over the crucial home ministry is delaying the swearing-in of the new government in Maharashtra, party sources said Wednesday.
While the Congress is desperate to have the home ministry in its kitty, the NCP is in no mood to oblige.
The NCP has even threatened to extend only “outside support” if the bigger coalition partner Congress goes ahead and keeps the ministry, Congress party sources said.
In informal talks between the leaders of the two parties, the NCP made it clear that it could concede the post of speaker of assembly (which falls in its share) to the Congress, but it would not compromise on its claim over the home ministry, a NCP leader said.
In 1999 and 2004, when the two parties entered into an alliance, the home ministry remained with the NCP, while the chief minister’s post was with the Congress.
NCP general secretary P.A. Sangma Wednesday reiterated in New Delhi the party’s known stand.
“There could be some room for negotiations over the number of ministers, but not about portfolios,” he asserted.
Mumbai Congress chief Kripa Shankar Singh, one of the important negotiators, expressed optimism that the pending issues between the two partners would be sorted out by Thursday evening.
“We had a detailed discussion on the issue here today (Wednesday) and we shall have another round of talks tomorrow (Friday) in New Delhi. Things are progressing quite well,” Singh told IANS.
When asked specifically how much progress has been achieved, Singh said: “It is not a single party government, it is an alliance government. I can say with certainty that everything shall be finalised to swear-in the new government by Monday.”
However, he declined to comment on the present status of the home ministry and other departments like finance and public works department which the Congress wants from the NCP.