Pawar, Sonia to finalise formation of ‘alternative govt’ in Maha today

Pune: NCP chief Sharad Pawar will meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday and their talks are expected to lead to a final call on a tie-up with the Shiv Sena to form a government in Maharashtra after 25 days of deadlock.

NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik made the announcement on Sunday evening after a meeting of the party's core committee at Pawar's residence in Mumbai. Malik said the core committee was of the view that the current President's rule in Maharashtra should end, and an "alternative government" should be formed.

The NCP is in talks with its ally Congress for a possible alliance with the Shiv Sena, after the Sena's alliance with the BJP fell apart over the chief minister's post.

"We had had a discussion over the current political situation in the state, and we have come to the conclusion that the President's rule should end and an alternative government should be formed," said Malik.

"Sharad Pawar and Sonia Gandhi will meet on Monday and discuss the possibility of formation of alternative government in Maharashtra," he said.

"On Tuesday, (other) leaders from the NCP and Congress will meet and discuss future course of action," he added.

The NCP core committee's meeting, which lasted for over two hours, was attended by Jayant Patil, Dilip walse Patil, Chhagan Bhujbal, Ajit Pawar, Supriya Sule, Sunil Tatkare, Dhananjay Munde and others.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said that "we are trying to find if the Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP can come together". "There will be a meeting tomorrow (Monday) between Sena and Congress leaders. We will find out if we can go ahead or not," the former chief minister told reporters.

Maharashtra was placed under President's rule on November 12 after no party or alliance staked claim to form government.

The Sena reached out to the Congress-NCP combine for support after its alliance with the BJP collapsed. The saffron alliance had secured a comfortable majority by winning 105 and 56 seats, respectively, in the 288-member Assembly.

The Congress and NCP, pre-poll allies, won 44 and 54 seats.

Catch the latest news, live coverage and in-depth analyses from India and World. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.