Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan is facing a strong rebellion from within the Congress party. CNN-IBN has accessed a letter of grievance written by the Congress MLAs in Maharashtra to state party chief Manikrao Thakre.
The letter, signed by 43 of the 82 Congress MLAs in the state, points that there is anger among the constituents of the government over the lack of progress on several projects.
The letter lists lack of progress on 14 projects and policy initiatives, ranging from irrigation to health and education sectors.
Congress MLAs who are close to former chief ministers Ashok Chavan and Vilasrao Deshmukh have reportedly signed the letter.
The MLAs are also believed to have warned that if the situation continues to remain same, the Congress-NCP coalition will fare badly in the next elections.
When asked, Thakre said he did not receive any "complaint letter" from the MLAs, and that they stood united behind Chavan. He, however, said that he received a letter from the MLAs who wanted Chavan to pay attention to some projects.
The Maharashtra CM is already facing ally trouble with the NCP lashing out at him for not backing up its ministers who are accused in scams.
Chavan had promised a White Paper on scams in irrigation projects in the state. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who is also Sharad Pawar's nephew, is embroiled in it as he was the irrigation minister for many years.
Sunil Tatkare, the present irrigation minister from the NCP, is under the scanner as well.
Adding pressure to his warnings of quitting from the Cabinet if Chavan was not reined in, NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Monday even skipped the UPA's dinner meet.
The Congress, however, remains unwilling to accommodate his demand.
Meanwhile, the NCP on Tuesday said that it would take its final decision on its ties with the Congress by Thursday morning.
"If we don't attend Cabinet meet on Thursday, then there is no turning back," said party sources.
The Maharashtra unit of the NCP has conveyed to its central leadership that if the Centre walks out, the state coalition would be put in jeopardy.
The NCP-Congress stand-off has Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan at its centre.
Chavan has refused to back down on the probe against the Deputy Chief Minister and the Congress too has refused to give in to Pawar's demands of reining in the CM.
According to the present tally in the Maharashtra Assembly, the Congress has 82 MLAs while the NCP has 62. Also supporting the government are 27 independents. In the Opposition, the NDA has 91 MLAs while others have 26.
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