Maharashtra govt formation will speed up after Sonia-Pawar meet: Nawab Malik

Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik said here on Monday that things will speed up towards the government formation in Maharashtra after today's meeting between Congress President Sonia Gandhi and NCP Chief Sharad Pawar.

Pawar and Sonia will meet at 4 pm in New Delhi today, he said.

"Today, there is a meeting between NCP President Pawar Ji and Congress President Sonia Ji. Once it is decided in the meeting today on how to go ahead, definitely everything will speed up and there will be an alternate government in Maharashtra," said Nawab Malik.

After a meeting of the two leaders, Congress and NCP members will sit together on Tuesday to discuss the government formation in the state, Malik had said on Sunday.

The NCP held a core committee meeting at party chief Sharad Pawar's residence in Pune on Sunday. Maharashtra NCP chief Jayant Patil and Legislative Party leader Ajit Pawar were among the prominent leaders present at the meeting.

"The core committee arrived at the



conclusion that President's Rule should end in Maharashtra and an alternate government should be formed at the earliest," Malik had said.

Maharashtra came under President's Rule earlier this week after all the parties failed to form a government in the state. BJP, which emerged as the single largest party, could not stake claim to form a government as its ally Shiv Sena remained firm on rotating the Chief Minister's post and equal sharing of Cabinet berths.

Shiv Sena parted its ways with BJP only to explore ways to form a government. It, however, failed to prove the support of the required number of MLAs in the time given by Governor BS Koshyari.

The Governor had then invited NCP, the third-largest party, to prove its ability to form the government failing which President's Rule was imposed in the state on Tuesday.

The Shiv Sena is now in parleys with the Congress and NCP to form a government in the state.

The BJP won 105 seats in the 288-member assembly followed by Shiv Sena 56, NCP 54 and Congress 44.