Mumbai: The on-going verbal spat between Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) - the main partners in the ruling Democratic Front (DF) coalition in Maharashtra - appeared to have been resolved on October 13 with the Sharad Pawar-led outfit ruling out any threat to the government over the issue of foreign origin of All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Sonia Gandhi.

"There is no acrimony in the government on the issue of foreign origin of Sonia and there is no threat to the government," Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal told reporters.

Bhujbal's statement comes in the wake of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Ranjit Deshmukh clarifying that he had not issued any ultimatum to NCP president Sharad Pawar and had not talked about snapping ties with the coalition partner over the foreign origin issue of Sonia.

Bhujbal maintained that both Congress and NCP should work closely to keep away "communal forces" like Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at bay.

"Both Congress and NCP are independent political parties and during election campaign criticism is bound to happen. But we have to take all such things in right spirit," the Deputy Chief Minister added.

NCP spokesman Praful Patel described MPCC Chief Ranjit Deshmukh's climbdown as a "welcome statement". "The clarification (by Deshmukh) augurs well for the ruling coalition," Patel said, adding that it would work well for the government.

PTI