NCP weighs fresh offer from Cong

Solution not in sight: Patel

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) denied that it had ever asked for the post of two deputy chief ministerships in Maharashtra and said the Congress had made the offer through the media that it was still in the process of considering, as the leadership crisis in Maharashtra slipped into its 10th day today.

Union Minister Praful Patel told Business Standard that the status quo continued.

"I am leaving for Mumbai today and I do not think any solution will be possible today," Patel said even as the Congress apparently reacted in exactly the way the NCP had expected it to, offering three additional ministries and two portfolios and topping it up with its latest offer of two deputy chief ministerships.

Although Congress leaders said the NCP had made the demand, the NCP said it was the Congress that had brought the offer to the negotiating table to cut the bargaining short.

The meeting of the NCP office-bearers was to have been held at party chief Sharad Pawar's residence, but the agriculture minister was instead busy at official meetings at the Krishi Bhawan all day. A late night meeting might have taken place but no breakthrough was reported.

The NCP deferred the decision on the package after its legislature party meet in Mumbai yesterday, saying its Maharashtra unit was "not happy with the proposal". A Congress leader said it was tragic that as an almost equal alliance partner, the Congress had been so comprehensively taken in by Pawar in the negotiation process.

Since the Maharashtra elections, the Congress began negotiations by first offering Pawar 50 per cent of the ministerships, added three ministerships and two portfolios to the shopping cart and now as a bonus, has thrown in two deputy chief ministership.

The NCP is holding its ground, calculating how much more it can extract from its partner, by making an issue of a post ""the chief ministership "" it did not want in the first place, Congress sources said.

Sources said Pawar had no intention of becoming the chief minister himself and was only securing a job for his nephew, Ajit Pawar. But by appearing to be inflexible on the chief ministership, he had forced the Congress to give him what he wanted ""additional portfolios""to accommodate all his local satraps.

Defence Minister and senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee had an hour-long meeting with party chief Sonia Gandhi and told reporters that "it would be resolved today".

He was accompanied by another leader Ahmed Patel.