Cong, NCP wrangle over CM's post

Barely had the euphoria of having won the Maharashtra Assembly polls sunk in that the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress got down to tackling a more important question: which party gets the chief minister's post.

The NCP with 71 seats, and the Congress (68 seats) are both eyeing the top post. While leaders of both parties insist that the issue will be decided by the respective party high commands, the NCP has already staked claim.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi today, voiced his views on his party's claim to the chief ministership by dint of its larger share of seats.

Pawar, who is known to hold his cards close to his chest, is expected to not only make a bid for the chief minister's post for his nephew Ajit Pawar, but also seek deputy prime ministership for himself in the wake of the Maharashtra Assembly results.

This gambit, according to party insiders, will ensure that at least the former demand is met, with the Congress unlikely to accept his demand for the deputy prime ministership.

By Wednesday, a new government has to be in place in the state. , The rumble of political confabulations must end before that, and the NCP is likely to be able to install either Ajit Pawar as chief minister or agree to an arrangement that allows Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde to continue in the top post for a while before its nominee takes over.

State Congress leaders are believed to be pushing for continuing Shinde as the chief minister for another six months before an NCP leader takes over.

"Shinde, after all, has the distinction of being the only Dalit Congress chief minister in Maharashtra, who was able to thwart the anti-incumbency wave. Moreover, he also has the distinction of being the only scheduled caste MLA who has been elected four times (twice as MLA and twice as MP) from unreserved parliamentary and Assembly constituencies," a Congress leader said.

NCP leaders, whose names are doing the rounds, include former Home Minister RR Patil, a Maratha leader, and Madhukarrao Picchad, a backward caste leader. Former Deputy Chief Minister Vijaysinh Mohite Patil (a Maratha) is believed to be out of the race for the chief ministership.

Patil, a Maratha leader, won a tough battle against Congress rebel Sanjay Patil from Tasgaon Assembly constituency.