New Delhi:
The Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) appeared close to sealing an alliance with the Shiv Sena to form a government in Maharashtra on Wednesday, hours after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and NCP chief Sharad Pawar set the cat among the pigeons.
An alliance seemed to be taking shape as top Congress leaders held discussions with the NCP at Sharad Pawar’s home while a senior Congress leader separately met the Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut. Congress sources said their leader Sonia Gandhi “is positive” on government formation.
Sonia Gandhi had been reluctant to join hands with the ideologically contrasting and pro-Hindutva Shiv Sena, which fell out with long-time ally BJP over power-sharing after the two won the Maharashtra election together.
According to the deal in circulation, the Shiv Sena has to share chief ministership with the NCP, with first shot to Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. There will be two deputy chief ministers, one from the Congress.
A coordination committee to find common ground between the vastly mismatched parties is also part of the deal. The Shiv Sena may also be asked to tone down its Hindutva rhetoric.
Sources say what precipitated the Congress’s decision after days of waffling was a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sharad Pawar this afternoon, and reports that the NCP chief had been offered the post of President by the BJP in a track running parallel to the Sena-NCP-Congress talks.
Two days ago, the PM had praised the NCP during a debate in the Rajya Sabha.
The PM-Sharad Pawar meeting was ostensibly on the farm crisis in Maharashtra, but the 45-minute discussion was meant as a strong message to the Congress – that any more dilly-dallying could prove costly and the opportunity of power in India’s commercial hub would be lost. After the meeting, Mr Pawar even tweeted about inviting PM Modi to a conference.
NCP sources said it is time for the Congress to decide.
Last week, the Sena broke up with long-term partner BJP over its demand for rotational chief ministership and pulled out its only minister in PM Modi’s government, stopping short of exiting the National Democratic Alliance. The Sena was about to stake claim to power when the Congress held off, saying it needed more discussions with Sharad Pawar.
President’s Rule was imposed in Maharashtra with parties failing to show majority support.
A week later on Monday, Mr Pawar repeated after visiting Sonia Gandhi that “more meetings” would take place.
Despite its desperation, the Sena displayed optimism even when after cryptic comments from the NCP chief, a veteran at deal-making without letting on much.
“All obstacles that were raised in the last 10-15 days have been cleared. By tomorrow you will know that all obstacles have been cleared,” Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut told reporters today.
Mr Raut also asserted that a Sena-led alliance would be in power by the first week of December and it would be stable.
Click Here: liverpool mens jersey