Congress ticks off Milind Deora for his tweets

NEW DELHI: Congress on Thursday expressed its reservations over minister of state Milind Deora's decision to publicly attack the decision-making capability of the Prithviraj Chavan's government in Maharashtra via social networking site Twitter.

Deora had on Wednesday posted a tweet lamenting the "decision-deficit" in the Maharashtra government. "Mumbai Aquarium and Zoo revamp further delayed. No progress on Girni Kamgar issue and Sewri-Nhava Sea Link. Severe decision deficit in Maharashtra," the two-time MP from South Mumbai had tweeted.

The Congress central leadership, however, appeared to disapprove of Deora's public criticism of the state leadership over project delays. "He should have approached the chief minister directly if any project was pending. We do not comment on personal tweets," said party spokesperson Rashid Alvi.

Though Deora later clarified that he does not doubt the "intent and sincerity" of chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, the timing of his comment in the middle of a simmering discontent against Chavan within the state Congress over the party's poor showing in local body elections, raises questions.

Incidentally, the central Congress leadership had defended Chavan after Congress-NCP alliances' loss to Shiv Sena-BJP in the recent Brihanmumbai Council (BMC) polls, saying that local polls were fought over local issues and not over perceptions of governance at the state level.