Pawar, a former Chief Minister and one of the senior members of the cabinet, is also believed to be hurt over the lack of consultations by Congress with allies, including NCP, and its reluctance to include the party in crucial cabinet panels like Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) or even being considered for the post of the Leader of the House in Lok Sabha following the resignation of Pranab Mukherjee.
After presenting a picture of unity till the end of polling in Presidential election today, Pawar, Agriculture Minister and Patel, Heavy Industries Minister, kept away from the cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and instead they met in the house of Pawar at the same time with some other party leaders.
The trigger for NCP's sulk appears to be denial of no 2 slot in the cabinet to Pawar which has apparently been given Defence Minister A K Antony. (more)