Uddhav to lead new Maharashtra alliance government: Sharad Pawar

Emerging from a marathon meeting of top leaders of the Congress, the NCP and Sena, who are making efforts to form government, Pawar said there was a consensus on Thackeray's leadership.
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. (Photo | PTI)
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. (Photo | PTI)

MUMBAI: The new government in Maharashtra will be formed under the leadership of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, NCP president Sharad Pawar said on Friday.

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Emerging from a marathon meeting of top leaders of the Congress, the NCP and the Sena, who are making efforts to form government in Maharashtra, Pawar said there was a consensus on Thackeray's leadership.

"There is a consensus that leadership of the government will be with Uddhav Thackeray," he told reporters after the meeting.

He said the meeting at Nehru Centre in central Mumbai deliberated extensively on finalising an agenda for governance.

With this consensus among the Maharashtra alliance, the state is set to have a Shiv Sena chief after 20 years.

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All three parties have agreed that Shiv Sena will keep the chief minister's post for a full five-year term and there will be no rotation among the alliance, which was the main reason why Sena broke up with its ally BJP, who had refused to share the chief minister’s post for 2.5 years each.

Senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who continued deliberations with other leaders for some more time, said that though the discussions are moving on a positive track, some details are yet to be decided and the deliberations shall continue even tomorrow.

He however, avoided to endorse the statement made by NCP Chief Sharad Pawar.

"The alliance leaders will decide tomorrow when to seek an appointment with Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to stake claim," Sharad Pawar told reporters.

The first Sena-NCP-Congress meeting took place a week after President's Rule was imposed in Maharashtra.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, meanwhile, criticized the efforts of government formation. "This (Shiv Sena-NCP-Congresss) is an alliance of opportunism. They will not be able to give Maharashtra a stable Government," Gadkari said while reacting to the developments.

The BJP and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena had contested the October 21 Maharashtra Assembly polls jointly and won 105 and 56 seats respectively.

(With PTI, ENS inputs)

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