Shiv Sena's 14 corporators have signed the memorandum supporting the move to table a no-confidence motion against Bhatia. Its alliance partner, the BJP is, however, treading cautiously before coming out in the open against Bhatia especially in the light of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.Despite Kalmadi's grand show of merging his one-year-old outfit Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi with the Congress, the old loyalists who had never deserted the party are unwilling to demonstrate their ``affection'' for the new leader.

Due to their reluctance a meeting of the old hands at the Congress Bhavan decided to appoint a four-member committee of Vandana Chavan, Ramdas Pawar, Ajit Apte and Ajit Darekar to work out their strategy vis-a-vis Bhatia.

Interestingly, the meeting at Congress Bhavan preferred not to invite their new found MVA colleagues. Sources claimed that they refused to technically recognise the MVA's merger with the Congress which seems to further complicate the issue of supporting or not supporting Bhatia.

City unit chief Mohan Joshi's appeal to party workers to attend another meeting with Kalmadi at the Pune Municipal Corporation drew no response.

While the MVA corporators who have now merged with the Congress too have sharp differences over the issue, the breakaway faction of the Congress (B) (those supporting Sharad Pawar) have yet to decide on the no-confidence motion. Mayor Datta Gaikwad and other corporators who were engaged in a meeting with Kalmadi have decided to oppose Bhatia and support the no-confidence motion. However, Gaikwad avoided the media and refused to answer queries on when the motion was likely to be tabled.

Deputy Mayor Mahadev Babar told media persons that while the no-confidence motion is likely to be tabled on Friday, the charges have to be decided upon against Bhatia. The deputy mayor said that development works had come to a standstill while the reallocation proposed by Bhatia amounting to Rs 38 crore was unfair. However, the charges had yet to be drafted. The Republican Party of India however has decided to oppose the no-confidence motion.

Meanwhile, Sena MLA Deepak Paigude has decided to move a breach of privilege motion against Bhatia who did not reply to his letter requesting an appointment to discuss the funds worth Rs 60 lakh to be drawn from the MLA's fund for the development works in his constituency. Paigude told media persons that a month after his request, Bhatia had not bothered to reply following which he will move the breach of privilege motion.