New Delhi, July 3: The Congress high command is in no hurry to endorse Maharashtra deputy chief minister R.R. Patil’s enthusiasm to pass a legislation to ban dance bars in the state.

“We have decided to convene a meeting of the state Congress legislature party to elicit the opinion of our legislators on the ban in Mumbai and rest of the state,” a senior leader said yesterday.

The move came in the wake of a statement made by Nationalist Congress Party leader Patil in Nagpur yesterday that the Congress-NCP government would bring a bill in the monsoon session of the Assembly to enact the ban.

Patil, who was instrumental in trying to impose the ban through a government ordinance in June, is seen in the Congress circles as making the legislation a prestige issue following governor S.M. Krishna’s refusal to sign the ordinance.

“As far as we have gathered, the ban order was unpopular in Mumbai and other towns, though it might have supporters in rural areas,” the Congress leader said.

A senior NCP leader said Patil might not also get his own party’s backing. The state unit, he said, had initially supported Patil, but subsequently many leaders have turned against the ban.

The governor’s refusal would not have happened if it did not suit both coalition partners, he added. They could now seek a “middle path” that would address the concerns of both the proponents and opponents of the ban, the NCP leader said.