Around February 1945, he began to fear the possibility that Emil Bodnăraș was planning his assassination and that he intended to blame it on political opponents of the Communist Party (as a means to direct sympathy towards the latter group). He suspected that Bodnăraș had chosen to back Gheorghiu-Dej (allegedly fearing that Pătrășcanu was betraying the fragile alliance established before the fall of Ștefan Foriș). Consequently, he attempted to block Bodnăraș's rise to power, and denounced his reputedly corrupt activities as Secretary in the Interior Ministry to the other members of the leadership.