“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.
