As talks continue between the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress over the issue of chief ministership in Maharashtra, a second round of discussions has begun over the crucial portfolios. |
The Congress is believed to be wary of handing over the cooperation and revenue departments that have traditionally been held by the party. |
|
In bid to force Pawar to at least conceede important portfolios, such as cooperation and revenue departments to the Congress, it has put forward a proposal according to which the party that holds the CM's post will have to concede not only these crucial portfolios, but also more ministers of state to its ally. |
|
Pawar is believed to have made it clear to the Congress that he would only go by the 1999 formula that would require the Congress to concede the chief ministership to the NCP as well as all the portfolios it held during the last five years. |
|
The Congress' reluctance to hand over the crucial portfolios stems from the worry about an erosion in its base that could be engineered by the NCP, if allowed to remain at the helm of the state's administration. The cooperative movement in the state has after all, allowed the two parties to control the state politics for years. |
|
Pawar has convened a meeting of all his party's MLAs tomorrow afternoon, where the party is expected to move a resolution conferring upon him the right to select the chief minister (in all probability his nephew Ajit Pawar) in the state. |
|
This has given rise to speculation that the Congress and NCP have arrived at an agreement on who gets the top post in Maharashtra (the NCP) while discussions are held over the portfolios. |
|
|
|