Cong, NCP call truce, promise to talk often

The week-long Congress-NCP standoff fizzled out on Wednesday with the allies agreeing on setting up coordination committees both at the Centre and in Maharashtra.

The week-long Congress-NCP standoff fizzled out on Wednesday with the allies agreeing on setting up coordination committees, both at the Centre and in Maharashtra.

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Sharad Pawar shelved plans to withdraw his party from the UPA after he and his NCP colleague Praful Patel met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. “We were fully involved. We will remain so,” Patel later said.

With the coordination mechanism in place, the NCP believes it will have greater say in the UPA political process. “It (committee) will meet once a month under Sonia Gandhi’s leadership and ensure UPA allies meet to discuss policy and other issues,” Patel announced.

In Maharashtra, where the NCP had complained against chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, the defunct Congress-NCP coordination panel will be revived.

The meeting came hours after the PM said the Congress was ready to discuss all issues. “We are ready to discuss with the NCP. In politics, there is give and take.”

Before the meeting, Pawar also met Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee.