NCP-Congress do a Mamata on Ajit Pawar

MUMBAI: Mamata Banerjee claimed she was not consulted while denouncing the 'reformist' budget presented by the railway minister who was her party nominee.

However, Maharashtra finance minister Ajit Pawar may have been bemused to find out that a budget he presented after consulting his party, and its ruling partner, faced an almost similar situation.

The proposal of an additional 5% tax on LPG caused uproar in the state assembly on Tuesday. Opposition parties Shiv Sena and BJP protested against this hike in the House. That was expected, but not when Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party demanded a roll back of the hike and passed a party resolution to the effect. Congress too demanded a rollback.

Pawar is likely to heed to the demands of his party and the ruling partner, unlike Dinesh Trivedi, who decided to quit than rollback. According to a NCP leader some decision on providing partial relief on LPG tax was likely to be made in a day or two, when finance minister Ajit Pawar gives replies to the budget discussion. He may also make a separate announcement on the matter in the House on Wednesday.

A Congress delegation lead by MPCC president Manikrao Thackre met chief minister Prithviraj Chavan to demand withdrawal of the 5% tax on LPG, while NCP MLAs and MLCs held a meeting at Vidhan Bhavan where a resolution was passed to make the same demand to the state finance minister. As soon as the House convened on Tuesday, opposition parties BJP and Shiv Sena raised slogans protesting levying of a new tax on LPG in Maharashtra.