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Maharashtra : Who will be the Chief Minister ? |
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Nearly ten days after the Maharashtra Assembly elections, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are unable to decide who will be the Chief Minister of the state in their coalition government. The NCP which one two seats more than the Congress in the Assembly elections wants that the Chief Minister’s post should come to it under the formula agreed upon in 1999. The Congress says that the alliance fought the elections under the leadership of the present Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and so he or another representative of the Congress should continue to head the Government. The two parties have held several rounds of talks, but have failed to come to an agreement so far. The NCP says that if it does not get the Chief Minister’s post, it will prefer to remain out of the Government and just provide outside support to the Congress in the formation of a new Ministry.
Top leaders of the Congress and the NCP were scheduled to have another round of talks on October 24 which they hope would be the final round. There were indications on Saturday night that the Congress had conceded the NCP demand for the Chief Minister’s post. But there was no confirmation of this. The two parties are also reported to be locked in an intense bargain for key ministerial berths and portfolios.
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