PUNE, 24 March 2005 — Serious differences between coalition partners Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) surfaced as 17 councilors from the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) quit Congress and formed a separate group supporting NCP’s Ajit Pawar.
The spilt sent jitters in the Congress party, as its strength in the PCMC has now been reduced from 31 to 14. With the new group aligning with NCP, its strength now stands at 51 in the 105-member corporation.
The split implies that the recent wordy duel between city Congress MP and All-India Congress Committee Treasurer Suresh Kalmadi and NCP Minister Pawar only boomeranged on Kalmadi.
Explaining the reason for the spilt to Arab News the leader of the group Hanumant Gawde said, “We are tired of Kalmadi and cannot tolerate his authoritarian and arbitrary style of functioning. Kalmadi rules the party like a dictator, and we resigned from Congress as a protest against his dictatorship.”
