Chavan's CM post in jeopardy, says Thackeray

In the backdrop of a crucial meeting of NCP, which is on the offensive against Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, party chief Sharad Pawar's old friend Bal Thackeray has also said Chavan's post may be in a jeopardy.

"If Pawar were to pull the rug from under (the UPA), the Manmohan Singh-led government will not collapse, but certainly, Prithviraj Chavan's chief ministerial chair can be in jeopardy," Thackeray said in an editorial in Shiv Sena mouthpiece "Saamana".

"Pawar's statement that he wants to exit from the government as he has to strengthen the NCP in Maharashtra is bound to give Congress sleepless nights," Thackeray said. NCP leaders Ajit Pawar and Madhukar Pichad have expressed dissatisfaction over Chavan's style of functioning and all this is at the behest of Pawar, he said.

"If Congress wants to lose power in Maharashtra, it will ignore Pawar. It now remains to be seen how much they bend for Pawar," Thackeray said.