“It was a gross mistake on part of the Congress to saddle NCP with the Home Ministry portfolio. In the past several terror incidents had taken place including the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and NCP minister R.R. Patil was handling the home portfolio at that time and even in the latest incident, it was again Patil of the NCP who was heading the Home Ministry,” Chavan said while speaking to the media on Friday.

With Chavan’s latest statement attacking the NCP for the blasts, it appears that the Congress has set the flames of differences ablaze.

The chief minister further said: “I feel that allotting the NCP with the Home Ministry was a grave mistake. I do not think that in any other coalition government important portfolios like home, finance and planning are not with the chief minister except in Maharashtra.”

Because of the statement of the chief minister about the home and Planning Ministry portfolio that are with the NCP, signs of sharp differences between the Congress and the NCP appear on the horizon.

After the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, then Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister R.R. Patil had resign from his posts under pressure and it appears that pressure is once again being exerted on him to step down after the recent 13/7 Mumbai terror attacks.

Meanwhile, Congress President Sonia Gandhi dashed to Mumbai on Thursday night to take stock of the bomb blasts. She visited the hospital and met the injured. During Sonia’s visit there were reports that Chief Minister Chavan had tendered his resignation to the Congress chief. However, Chavan clarified that he had not offered to resign or submitted his resignation to Sonia.