Maharashtra Congress Leaders To Meet Sonia Gandhi Today; To Discuss Backing Shiv Sena

Congress leaders Balasaheb Thorat, Ashok Chavan and Prithviraj Chavan flew to Delhi to meet party chief Sonia Gandhi amid talks in political circles about possibility of the Sena forming a government with support from opposition parties.

Sonia Gandhi (Source: PTI)

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing tussle between allies BJP and Shiv Sena over government formation,  Congress is apparently seeing an opportunity to get Sena to the opposition camp. State’s party leader will call upon the Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi   to discuss the possibilities of supporting Sena and government formation. Congress leaders Balasaheb Thorat, Ashok Chavan and Prithviraj Chavan flew to Delhi to meet party chief Sonia Gandhi amid talks in political circles about possibility of the Sena forming a government with support from opposition parties. Earlier in the day, the three Maharashtra Congress leaders met NCP chief Sharad Pawar at the latter's residence. Later in the evening, Sanjay Raut, Sena MP and close aide of Uddhav Thackrey, met Sharad Pawar on Thursday.  The Sena MP claimed that he met Pawar without sharing any detail of the meeting. However, it's unlikely that Pawar will throw his hat in this slugfest, till both the warring parties clear their stands, sources say. They said the meeting is taking place after Pawar told the troika in the morning that they should speak to the Congress high command on the current situation and take approval on the steps to be taken. On Thursday, the NCP Supremo had a series of meetings with Congress leaders, including former Chief Ministers Ashok Chavan and Prithviraj Chavan, and they discussed the ongoing BJP-Sena power tussle. However, both the parties have not revealed their cards except many second-rung leaders advocating a Sena-headed government supported by the NCP-Congress. Though Chavan has been hinting at supporting a non-BJP formation, party leaders in Delhi have maintained that Pawar's counsel and advice will be sought before moving forward. The Congress wants the Sena to openly walk out from the alliance and then seek open support from the opposition. On Thursday, the Shiv Sena rubbished reports of a climbdown and on Thursday again indicated it had not given up its claim on the post of chief minister and 50:50 division of portfolios. Both these demands have been rejected by the BJP which has insisted that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will continue in the post for the next five years. Adopting a harsh tone, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party on Thursday accused the BJP of enacting "second act" of the "use and throw" policy while dealing with its ally. (inputs from agencies)