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The Congress in Maharashtra has said that Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan's view that giving the Home portfolio to the Nationalist Congress party (NCP) was a mistake must be viewed in totality and not blown out of context and proportion.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar hit back in Pune on Saturday saying that the NCP was perfectly capable of handling the Home Ministry and the decision to share portfolios was taken at the highest level. There was no need for anyone else to meddle in this, he said. The Congress sources said that it was a historical fact that any State in the country with a coalition government usually gave the Home and Finance portfolio to the Chief Minister. Mr. Chavan said that he could do nothing about the situation since the issue was decided in 1999.
However, Mr. Chavan later clarified that the NCP and Congress were almost equals, they were following coalition dharma and working together and would continue to do so. The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) refuted rumours that Mr. Chavan had offered to resign. Mr Chavan also said his comments were not aimed at Home Minsiter R.R. Patil or his capability to handle the Ministry.
However, there is discontent within the Congress over the performance of Mr. Patil, who even faces flak within his party for the handling of the Home Ministry. The lessons of 26/11 have not been learnt and despite the recommendations of the Ram Pradhan Committee to upgrade intelligence and communication both are in deficit. Though the State is the first in the country to set up an academy to train intelligence personnel in Pune, at the level of local policing the situation is far from desirable.
The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) is functioning below its strength and does not have enough human resources. The worst possible lacuna was the communication set-up in the State, which is now thinking of having a dedicated system for senior police officers and Ministers so that they don't have to rely on the mobile network. Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Umeshchandra Sarangi told The Hindu that at a high-level meeting on Saturday it was decided to acquire alternative means of communication which could be in the form of radio tracking, VHF or satellite phones. A technical expert group would study the feasibility and the government would take a decision in a week. The need for additional equipment for the State control room to enhance their response to a disaster or terror strike would also be considered.
The Congress and the NCP have a history of bickering but they have managed to stay together. In 1999, Vilasrao Deshmukh, who was made Chief Minister, was keen on heading the State and as a result the party high command agreed to the formula set out for power-sharing on the lines of the earlier Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena government. At each State election the Congress has tried to introduce a change of portfolios in the discussion between it and the NCP to no avail. The NCP having got the cream of the portfolios is certainly not going to agree for a change, as Maharashtra NCP president Madhukar Pichad has indicated.
The issues are larger than that of the portfolios. The government has once again come in for a lot of flak over how it has handled the latest blasts and the Chief Minister's candid admission that for 15 minutes he could not communicate with senior police officers is not at all reassuring. The response time to the bomb blasts was slow and it was the common citizen who took people to hospital and doused the fire after the blast at one place.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar hit back in Pune on Saturday saying that the NCP was perfectly capable of handling the Home Ministry and the decision to share portfolios was taken at the highest level. There was no need for anyone else to meddle in this, he said. The Congress sources said that it was a historical fact that any State in the country with a coalition government usually gave the Home and Finance portfolio to the Chief Minister. Mr. Chavan said that he could do nothing about the situation since the issue was decided in 1999.
However, Mr. Chavan later clarified that the NCP and Congress were almost equals, they were following coalition dharma and working together and would continue to do so. The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) refuted rumours that Mr. Chavan had offered to resign. Mr Chavan also said his comments were not aimed at Home Minsiter R.R. Patil or his capability to handle the Ministry.
However, there is discontent within the Congress over the performance of Mr. Patil, who even faces flak within his party for the handling of the Home Ministry. The lessons of 26/11 have not been learnt and despite the recommendations of the Ram Pradhan Committee to upgrade intelligence and communication both are in deficit. Though the State is the first in the country to set up an academy to train intelligence personnel in Pune, at the level of local policing the situation is far from desirable.
The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) is functioning below its strength and does not have enough human resources. The worst possible lacuna was the communication set-up in the State, which is now thinking of having a dedicated system for senior police officers and Ministers so that they don't have to rely on the mobile network. Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Umeshchandra Sarangi told The Hindu that at a high-level meeting on Saturday it was decided to acquire alternative means of communication which could be in the form of radio tracking, VHF or satellite phones. A technical expert group would study the feasibility and the government would take a decision in a week. The need for additional equipment for the State control room to enhance their response to a disaster or terror strike would also be considered.
The Congress and the NCP have a history of bickering but they have managed to stay together. In 1999, Vilasrao Deshmukh, who was made Chief Minister, was keen on heading the State and as a result the party high command agreed to the formula set out for power-sharing on the lines of the earlier Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena government. At each State election the Congress has tried to introduce a change of portfolios in the discussion between it and the NCP to no avail. The NCP having got the cream of the portfolios is certainly not going to agree for a change, as Maharashtra NCP president Madhukar Pichad has indicated.
The issues are larger than that of the portfolios. The government has once again come in for a lot of flak over how it has handled the latest blasts and the Chief Minister's candid admission that for 15 minutes he could not communicate with senior police officers is not at all reassuring. The response time to the bomb blasts was slow and it was the common citizen who took people to hospital and doused the fire after the blast at one place.