New Delhi,
October 16
The Congress may favour a second term for the incumbent Maharashtra Chief Minister, Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde, but the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) could play spoiler by staking claim to the post as it has secured more seats than its alliance partner.
NCP leader and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said as much this evening when his party with 71 seats was two seats ahead of the Congress.
“If the Congress wins even one seat more than the NCP, we will concede the Chief Minister’s post to it. But if we are ahead, then we will remind the Congress about its own formula that the larger party ought to lead the government,” Mr Pawar told mediapersons today.
He said five years ago when the two parties formed the government in Maharashtra, the Congress had claimed the Chief Minister’s post on the basis of its greater numerical strength. It had given the same argument more recently in Karnataka when it refused to give the top post to the Janata Dal (S), Mr Pawar pointed out.
This was a clear shift in Mr Pawar’s position. In the morning, he had told television channels that the Chief Minister’s post would go to the Congress. But as
the results came in and it became evident that the NCP had inched ahead of the Congress, Mr Pawar changed his stance.
He is apparently under pressure from his own cadres, especially younger members like Mr Praful Patel, that the NCP should lead the next government.
Although Mr Pawar made his views known, he also clarified that the final decision would be taken after consultations with its allies. Congress President Sonia Gandhi was equally circumspect when questioned about giving the Chief Minister's post to the NCP.
"Let the final results come. We will sit together with Pawar and others and discuss this issue," she said.
