Mumbai: The Maharashtra deadlock is likely to end with the formation of a government comprising the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress in the last week of November or the first week of Decem-ber, a source said.
After Congress president Sonia Gandhi gave go ahead for forming the post-poll alliance with Shiv Sena, the leaders of the Congress and the NCP held a 6-hour long meeting at Mr Sharad Pawar’s residence in Delhi to finalise the common minimum program-me on Wednesday.
Congress leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, who participated in the meeting said, “We have had a positive discussion regarding the government formation in Maharashtra. The final decision will be announced on Friday.”
“We were also in constant touch with the Sena leadership in Mumbai. We have made a lot of progress. Tomorrow we will meet at 10 am and again at 1 pm and then we will return to Mumbai, where we will hold discussions with the Sena leadership. We have finalised all important issues. Few minor points remain now,” Mr Chavan added.
Other leaders present in the meeting were Pawar, Supriya Sule, Ajit Pawar, Praful Patel, Chhagan Bhujbal, Nawab Malik, Jayant Patil from the NCP and Ahmed Patel, Jairam Ramesh, Mallikarjun Kharge, Balasaheb Thorat, Nasim Khan and others from Congress.
The government formation, however, may take place only after Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray meets Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik confirmed that all three parties — Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena — will join the government.
“It is clear that the government cannot be formed unless all three parties come together,” he said.
Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, who was also in Delhi and monitored the Congress-NCP meeting on television, confirmed that the government will be formed at the earliest and the Chief Minister will be from Shiv Sena.
When asked about who will be the Chief Minister, Mr Raut said, “The people of Maharashtra want Uddhav Thackeray to lead the government. The sentiment of the Congress and the NCP is also the same. Uddhav ji has never expressed the desire to become the CM. But that is what people want. The final decision will be his.”
Mr Raut indicated that Mr Thackeray’s name as the Chief Ministerial candidate has already been conveyed to the Congress and Sonia Gandhi.
According to sources, the Congress leaders will now brief Mrs Gandhi about the discussion held at Sharad Pawar’s residence.
There will be another round of Congress-NCP meeting on Thursday after Congress leaders get feedback from Sonia Gandhi.
Earlier, Sharad Pawar met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament over farmers’ distress in Maharashtra, even as the Congress and NCP stepped up momentum on forming the government in the coastal state.
Results of the October 21 Assembly polls were declared on October 24 and President’s rule was imposed in the state on November 12 after no party or combine staked claim to form the new government.
The meeting between Pawar and Modi at the Prime Minister’s chamber in Parliament took place amid talks between the NCP, the Congress and the Shiv Sena for an alliance.
“Due to President’s rule in the state, your urgent intervention is highly necessitated. I shall be grateful if you could take immediate steps to initiate massive relief measures to ameliorate distressed farmers,” the three-page memorandum given by Pawar to Modi said.
There were few takers for Pawar’s emphatic denial of any political discussion having taken place during his meeting with Modi.
Meanwhile, according to PTI, the chief minister’s post in Maharashtra is most likely to be on a rotational basis, with the first half of the five-year term to be given to the Shiv Sena and the latter to the Nationalist Congress Party, NCP sources said.
The Congress is likely to have the deputy chief minister's post for the full term, they said.
A senior NCP leader said the fight between the Shiv Sena and the BJP was for over the issue of chief ministership for two-and-half years each.
“So, the question of the Sena enjoying the full five-year term does not arise. The second half will have a chief minister from the NCP,” the leader said.
However, Congress sources said the issue of chief minister’s post was not discussed in Wednesday's meeting.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut told reporters that the chief minister of the state will be from his party, but parried question on whether the Sena would hold the post for five years.
NCP leaders also cited the slim margin in the number of seats between the two parties.
