It seems that the ongoing political logjam over government formation in Maharashtra is going to end soon as senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday (November 21) said that the Congress and its ally Nationalist Congress Party have completed negotiations on all issues. Stressing that there is complete unanimity between the Congress and NCP over government formation in Maharashtra, Chavan said that Shiv Sena leaders have been informed about all discussions.
"Congress and NCP have completed discussions on all issues. There is complete unanimity. Tomorrow in Mumbai, we will have meeting with our other alliance parties. Later in the day, we will have discussion with Shiv Sena," ANI quoted Chavan as saying.
The former Maharashtra CM also said that a final decision on the architecture of alliance for government formation in the state will be taken on Friday (November 22). "A decision will be taken on Friday on the architecture of alliance for Maharashtra government formation. When we announce the Common Minimum Programme, the power-sharing formula will be disclosed," he noted.
Chavan made the statements after the meeting of the Congress Working Committee in Delhi. The meeting was called by Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi to review the political scenario in Maharashtra. During the meeting, the CWC was briefed on the talks held between the Congress and NCP on Wednesday. Sources told Zee Media that during the CWC meeting, it was decided that the Congress will support the coalition government of Shiv Sena and NCP.
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.
The Shiv Sena started negotiations with the Congress and NCP over government formation in the state after snapping ties with the BJP and the three parties are engaged in hectic parleys for over 10 days now. Sources claimed that as per the deal reached between the Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP, the chief minister's post will rotate between Sena and NCP for 2.5 years while the Congress will keep the Deputy CM post for the full term.
