No threat to UPA govt, have enough numbers, says Pawar

A day before the Trinamool Congress is expected to carry out its threat of breaking its ties with the UPA, Union minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar said he saw no threat to the UPA's stability.

"I do not see any problem for the government. We have enough numbers to muster majority," he said, adding that all parties have to be always ready for polls. "We have seen governments of 13 days, 13 months and of two years. So, all political parties have to be ready for polls."

Pawar said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had flagged the issues of FDI in retail, diesel price hike and cap on subsidised LPG cylinders at the last meeting of the UPA Coordination Committee, which had been attended by TMC chief Mamata Banerjee.

According to Pawar, at the coordination committee meeting, she had said she would meet the Prime Minister later to give her views on contentious issues. Supporting FDI in retail, he said it was a win-win situation for both farmers and consumers.

"Farmers would get a better price for their produce and consumers would also get farm products at a lower cost," he said. He also defended the government's decision on diesel price hike saying that the unpleasant decision was taken as oil marketing companies were facing huge under-recoveries and banks had expressed difficulty in supporting them further if such a situation continued.

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