Sinking Congress could soon lose allies support, predicts BJP

New Delhi, July 20 (ANI): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday took potshots at the ruling Congress Party over reports of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar offering to resign for not being given the number two position in the government, saying it is an old habit of the UPA to impose pressure on its allies and insult them.

BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said the UPA's allies are unhappy over The government is not running (properly), it is just wasting its time. All is not well within the government. A lot of things, which were hidden under the carpet, are now coming out. The allies of the government are not happy with it. The government imposes pressure on its allies and keeps them in its fold," said Hussain.

"The government plays the politics of pressure with its allies, and the result of this has also been seen in the presidential election," he added.

Describing the Congress Party as a sinking ship, Hussain predicted that UPA allies would not be intact for too long.

"The UPA Government is in trouble today because none of its allies are happy with it. The Congress is a sinking ship and none are going to be with it for a long time and the beginning of that has now coming to the fore," he said.

Hussain further said the ambitious struggle for top Cabinet positions was an internal matter of the UPA and its government.

"This is their internal matter on who is in the number one and number two slot. But as far as the numbers within the government is concerned, the government has figures of majority, but its allies are not happy with it because it is an old habit of the UPA to insult its allies," he said.

Pawar is reportedly upset at not being considered for the number two slot in the UPA Government, and in this regard, he met Congress President Sonia Gandhi at her official 10, Janpath residence on Friday morning.

The meeting took place amid reports that Pawar and his senior NCP colleague Praful Patel have offered to resign from the Union Cabinet.

According to reports, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has refused to accept Pawar's resignation and is likely to meet him later in the day.

Pawar is said to be extremely perturbed with the fact that after Pranab Mukherjee resigned from the Union Cabinet to contest the presidential election, Defence Minister A.K. Antony was seated next to the Prime Minister at Cabinet meetings, usually reserved for the second-most senior member of the government.

He is also said to be disappointed at not being included in the high-level Cabinet Committee on Security.

Praful Patel had earlier on Thursday evening refused to comment on the ongoing political developments within the NCP, and said all was going well.

"There is no such issue, and whatever will happen will be spoken about later," Patel said. (ANI)