Congress not to follow NCP in Maharashtra

Congress has no plans to follow suit in the wake of its ruling coalition partner in Maharashtra Nationalist Congress Party on Friday taking the resignation of its 20 ministers in the state to go for a reshuffle in the party as well as the government.

Highly placed Congress sources replied in the negative when asked whether the party would act in the same manner as NCP.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan is understood to be planning since long a reshuffle of his Cabinet.

Congress and NCP are in coalition in Maharashtra since 1999. Assembly elections in the state are scheduled by October 2014.

Earlier in the day, all 20 NCP ministers in the Maharashtra cabinet submitted their resignations to the party leadership amid reports of a large-scale reshuffle both at the government and party level.

Among those putting in their papers were Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Public Works Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, Home Minister R R Patil and Rural Development Minister Jayant Patil.