Cong, NCP bury the hatchet

Warring allies Congress and NCP on Wednesday agreed to bury the hatchet and constitute a  coordination committee within the UPA coalition as well as in Maharashtra, to thrash out differences.

The decision was taken at a meeting attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar and party leader Praful Patel.

The coordination committee of the UPA will be headed by Gandhi. In Maharashtra, where Congress and NCP share power, it would comprise of Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan (Cong), a Congress leader nominated by the party high command, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar (NCP) and Patel.

The panels would meet often and settle differences, if any, and give a thrust to larger policy issues. With this agreement, the week-long tussle between the two coalition partners has come to an end. “The co-ordination mechanism will ensure cohesive functioning of the coalition,” Patel briefed reporters.