NASHIK, 10 January 2006 — With the Congress party in the state now emerging swiftly toward its longtime goal of becoming the single largest party in the state legislature following the defection of former Shiv Sena legislators into the party, the coalition partner in the Congress-led Democratic Front government had reasons to get agitated and angry.
Lashing out at the politics of the Congress in the numbers game, Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar, addressing a session of the two-day conclave of the party here, warned the Congress Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh not to interfere with the functioning of the NCP ministers.
In an indirect reference to Deshmukh, Pawar said that those who head alliance government should learn lessons from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who Pawar said, gives near total freedom to his Cabinet colelgues.
