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Saturday, Jun 17, 2006

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Expand UPA-Left coordination panel: NCP

Special Correspondent

"Congress alone must not share burden"

NEW DELHI: The Nationalist Congress Party on Friday suggested that the Congress expand representation on the United Progressive Alliance Coordination Committee with the Left and include allies such as the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in it.

"The UPA is not synonymous with the Congress. Why should the Congress alone share the burden, the allies too should share it and strengthen the UPA. The Coordination Committee should be broad based," NCP general secretary D.P. Tripathi said at a press conference.

Mr. Tripathi, who is also chief spokesman of the party, said that for two years the UPA had been holding meetings with the Left parties when in fact it was just the Congress and the Left.

The NCP maintained that it had made similar suggestions to the Congress but having made no forward movement on it, the party had decided to make it public.

However, the Congress said the UPA had a general body in which all the allies were represented while the Coordination Committee was formed at the request of the Left parties, which wanted a formal mechanism to interact with the UPA/Government.

"Bajaj's election historic"

The NCP said the decision of the party to back Rahul Bajaj in the Rajya Sabha by-election would not affect relations with the Congress. Mr. Tripathi said Mr. Bajaj's election was "historic" and said he belonged to a family that took part in the freedom struggle and associated with the Congress.

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