Cong adopts wait & watch plan, lets Pawar take lead
Ashok Chavan said that the Congress would take a decision at the right time.
New Delhi: Amid a stalemate in government formation in Maharashtra, the Congress has decided to maintain a “wait and watch” approach and let Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar take the lead in the formation of any alternate arrangement apart from the BJP-Shiv Sena combine.
Sources said that a delegation of Congress leaders, which included Maharashtra Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat, former chief minister Ashok Chavan and senior leader Prithviraj Chavan, met general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal and discussed the situation with him.
Ashok Chavan told reporters after the meeting that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed to keep its promise to the Shiv Sena, which has led to the political crisis in Maharashtra.
He said that the Congress was watching the situation and it would take a decision at the right time.
Earlier, Prithviraj Chavan had said that if Shiv Sena approached his party with a proposal, he would discuss that with the top leadership in Delhi. However, Sushilk-umar Shinde and Sanjay Nirupam are against the idea of Congress associating with Shiv Sena as, they think, it would damage the secular image of their party.
Sources, however, told this newspaper that the Maharashtra Congress was divided as far as extending support to the Shiv Sena for government formation was concerned.
It has been close to two weeks since the Assembly election results were announced and the BJP and Sena are yet to begin talks on government formation.
While Shiv Sena is sticking to its demand for equal representation in the government and the chief minister’s post for 2.5 years, the BJP is not willing to concede and is not willing to offer anything more than the deputy chief minister’s post.
Shiv Sena chief Udhhav Thackeray has opened communication lines with the Congress and NCP and has signaled he is ready to explore options if the BJP doesn’t accede to its demand.
On Thursday, senior Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on Thursday met NCP chief Sharad Pawar and discussed political developments.