Maha CM meets Sonia Gandhi

Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan today held discussions with Congress President Sonia Gandhi, a day after the party sealed a deal with ally NCP to form government in the state.

Chavan is understood to have discussed allocation of portfolios at the meeting, where senior Congress leaders A K Antony and Ahmad Patel were also present.

Congress and NCP announced last night that they had reached an agreement on power sharing and a new government is likely to be sworn in on Saturday.

The two parties rode back to power for the third time in a row, defeating opposition Shiv Sena-BJP, in a mainly four-cornered contest in which Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and the Third Front tried to make inroads.

NCP is expected to retain the key portfolios of Home, Finance, Power and Rural Development while Congress could be getting Public Health.

As government formation was delayed, after declaration of assembly poll results on October 23, due to hard negotiations between Congress and NCP over portfolio-sharing, Governor S C Jamir had nudged both the parties to show a sense of urgency to put in place a government.