Since November 12 Maharashtra was placed under the President’s rule after no party or alliance staked claim to form government in the state
New Delhi: On Tuesday Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi met senior leaders Ahmed Patel, Mallikarjun Kharge, A K Antony and KC Venugopal to discuss the political situation in Maharashtra and the way forward for the party on government formation, said sources.
Senior leaders Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are expected to meet on Wednesday to firm up a stand and to discuss the issues on forming government in Maharashtra with the ShivSena.
On Monday Keeping his cards close to his chest, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar said that he had only discussed the political situation in the state with Gandhi and the two parties will hold talks with their other allies before the decision-making on government formation in Maharashtra.
Sharad Pawar meeting Sonia Gandhi was being billed as a major step towards a tie-up with the ShivSena for government formation in the state, he had said that if the NCP-Congress had to take an opinion on government formation, they had to first discuss it among themselves.
Earlier, on Monday the Maratha strongman also said there was no discussion on a common minimum programme (CMP) during the talks.
However, close sources said that the Congress and the NCP have been having detailed discussions on the CMP and the way forward for a possible tie-up with the ShivSena.
Since November 12 Maharashtra was placed under the President’s rule after no party or alliance staked claim to form government in the state. A day after the President’s rule was imposed, the ShivSena, Congress and NCP leaders held hectic parleys to work out a CMP for government formation.
At a joint press conference in Mumbai last week with the Congress leaders deputed by Sonia Gandhi to hold talks with Pawar, NCP chief had said the two parties would discuss and come up with a consensus on what should be the policies and programs if the ShivSena was to be supported.
Congress leader Ahmed Patel had insisted that no final decision could be concluded without the formulation of a CMP by the three parties.
In Maharashtra polls, the BJP-Sena alliance had secured a comfortable majority by winning 105 and 56 seats respectively in the 288-member Assembly. The Congress and the NCP, the pre-poll allies, had won 44 and 54 seats respectively.
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