Sharad Pawar Briefs Sonia Gandhi On Maharashtra Situation, NCP, Congress Leaders To Meet Again

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Monday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi at 10 Janpath and briefed her on the situation in Maharashtra, said Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala. Both the leaders decided that representatives of their parties will meet in a few days to decide the future course of action.

“Sharad Pawar met the Congress President today and briefed her on the situation in Maharashtra. It was decided that in a day or two, representatives from NCP & Congress will meet in Delhi to discuss the way forward,” Surjewala said.

The NCP is in talks with its ally Congress for a possible alliance with the Shiv Sena, after the Sena's alliance with the BJP fell apart over the chief minister's post.

Ahead of his meeting with Gandhi, Pawar said all political parties seeking to stake a claim in forming the government in Maharashtra have to "choose their own paths".

"BJP-Shiv Sena fought together, we (NCP) and Congress fought together. They have to choose their path and we will do our politics," Pawar told reporters ahead of the start of the Winter Session of Parliament.

Maharashtra was placed under President's rule on November 12 after no party or alliance staked claim to form a government.

Pawar's meeting with the Congress chief comes a day after the NCP's core committee held a meeting in Pune and resolved that the current President's rule in Maharashtra should end and an "alternative government" should be formed.

The BJP-Sena saffron alliance had secured a comfortable majority by winning 105 and 56 seats, respectively, in the 288-member Assembly. The Congress and NCP, pre-poll allies, won 44 and 54 seats respectively.