A crucial meeting of the Nationalist Congress Party is being held this afternoon in the wake of the stand-off with the Congress that has seen the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) constituent deciding to pull out of the Government.
The NCP chief, Mr Sharad Pawar, will hold consultations with senior party colleagues to decide the future course of action.
The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the Congress chief, Ms Sonia Gandhi, had sought to persuade Mr Pawar not to press further for the resignation and held his party as a “valued” ally.
The All India Congress Committee has also expressed confidence that the issues would be resolved.
Last week, NCP had decided to pull out of the UPA Government and support it from outside in protest against the way the party was treated by Congress.
Mr Pawar and the only other representative in the Union Cabinet, Mr Praful Patel, have informed the Prime Minister that they are tendering their resignation.
In a separate communication to Ms Gandhi, Mr Pawar has said that NCP, which has nine members in the Lok Sabha and seven in the Rajya Sabha, will stay part of the UPA.