It seems that ongoing impasse over government formation in Maharashtra is going to end soon as sources claimed that the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Shiv Sena have reached an agreement over forming an alliance government in the state and a formal announcement in this regard will be made on November 22 (Friday).
It is learnt that the Congress and NCP leaders are scheduled to meet again in Delhi on November 21 (Thursday) to hold discussions over government formation in Maharashtra. Sources said that after the meeting the Congress and NCP leaders will fly to Mumbai and meet Shiv Sena leaders on November 22 before announcing their decision to form the next government in the state.
Sources claimed that the NCP and Shiv Sena have agreed to rotate the chief minister's post among themselves for 2.5 years. But it is still unclear that which party will get the first shot at the top post. According to sources, the NCP will first get chance to occupy the chief minister's chair and either NCP supremo Sharad Pawar or his daughter Supriya Sule will become the first chief minister of Congress-NCP-Shiv Sena alliance.
In a related development, senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday (November 20) said that his party is confident of providing a stable government in the state very soon.
Addressing a joint press conference with NCP leader Nawab Malik, Chavan said that the Congress-NCP has had long and positive discussions over government formation in Maharashtra and discussions over this matter will continue for few more days.
For his part, NCP leader Malik said that Congress and NCP have decided to give an alternative government in Maharashtra and it can happen only when NCP-Congress-Shiv Sena will come together. Malik stressed that the three parties are trying their best to resolve all issues and form a stable government in the state.
Interestingly, the BJP and Shiv Sena had contested the October Assembly election in Maharashtra as allies and the two parties had got the simple majority to form the government with the BJP winning 105 seats and Sena 56 in 288-member Maharashtra Assembly. But the two parties failed to form the government as Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray demanded rotational chief ministerial post, a demand rejected by the BJP. The Congress and the NCP contested the election as allies with the NCP winning 54 seats, while the Congress bagged 44.
