Maharashtra will get a stable government, says Congress’s Prithviraj Chavan

The Congress-NCP alliance on Wednesday gave its most categorical indication about joining hands with arch rival Shiv Sena with former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan expressing confidence of forming a “stable” government soon in the state after a marathon meeting of senior leaders of the two parties here.

While the Congress leader hoped that political uncertainty will soon end in Maharashtra, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik was unambiguous about the need to join hands with the Sena, asserting that a government cannot be formed in the state without the three parties coming together.

This is the most emphatic public statement by the Congress-NCP combine about their intent to join hands with the Sena to form government.

A senior NCP leader said the government is likely to be formed before the first phase of the Jharkhand polls scheduled on November 30.

NCP sources said the chief minister’s post is most likely to be on a rotational basis, with the first half to be given to the Shiv Sena and the latter half to the Nationalist Congress Party. The Congress is likely to have the deputy chief minister’s post for the full five-year term, they said.

Earlier, speaking to reporters after the nearly four-hour-long meeting at NCP supremo Sharad Pawar’s residence here, both Chavan and Malik said the current spell of President’s rule in the state has brought administration to a standstill, and the two parties are confident of ending this.

The announcement, which is likely to end whatever little doubt remained over whether the Congress will back the Sena or not amid reports of opposition to such an alliance by a section of its leaders, came a day after Pawar met Congress president Sonia Gandhi.