Monday meeting between Sharad Pawar and Sonia Gandhi on Maharashtra

Amidst growing speculation that Delhi is putting pressure on certain NCP leaders to break away and help BJP to form the government in Maharashtra, national spokesperson of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Nawab Malik confirmed that NCP chief Sharad Pawar would be meeting Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday.

The meeting between the two leaders will be followed by a meeting of other senior leaders of the two parties on Tuesday.

A final decision on forming a stable government in Maharashtra is expected to be finalized following these meetings.

News agency IANS reported that Malik made it clear that the objective was to give "a stable government" to the state and any decision would be taken only in consultation with the Congress in the matter.

He was speaking after the NCP core committee meeting in Pune at the Moti Baug residence of Sharad Pawar. The meeting, presided over by Pawar, included several top state leaders and discussed in-depth the prevailing political scenario in the state and the government formation issues.

Earlier, there was strong rumour that a section of the NCP led by Praful Patel and Ajit Pawar had been lobbying for an alliance with the BJP. Both the NCP leaders face investigations by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into charges of corruption. The political grapevine was abuzz with rumours that both the leaders were told to support the BJP or face the risk of arrest and imprisonment.

Such speculation was given credence by Union Minister Ramdas Athawale, who claimed that Home Minister Amit Shah had told him not to worry about Maharashtra. Athawale claimed he had requested Shah to intervene and was told that all was well and that a BJP-Shiv Sena government would soon be in place.

But NCP sources discounted any such possibility. Sudhir Suryawanshi, a political commentator, tweeted, “ Sharad Pawar has created the ground for positive discussion . The rebellious leaders kept quiet at the meeting and told whatever Sharad Pawar decides would be final”.

“Maharashtra will be ruled from Mumbai, not from Delhi. All NCP members agreed on this line,” he also tweeted.