Maharashtra: All eyes on Congress top brass; Pawar calls party meet on Nov 12

On Saturday, hours before the Governor extended the invitation to BJP, AICC general secretary (Maharashtra in-charge) Mallikarjun Kharge rushed to Jaipur to hold consultation with party’s newly-elected MLAs. Kharge was accompanied by former chief ministers and MLAs Prithviraj Chavan and Ashok Chavan, as well as state Congress president Balasaheb Thorat.

Just as Congress president Sonia Gandhi has been reluctant to back a government formed by the Shiv Sena, many of the party’s MLAs want to keep the BJP at bay at any cost, which has put pressure on the party leadership.

With Sharad Pawar’s NCP reportedly not averse to partnering with the Sena if it walks out of the NDA, sources in the Congress said that the party is now weighing all options. While a section of senior leaders still believe that aligning or associating with Sena in any form would mean a compromise of Congress’ secular identity and will hurt the party in future, another section favours the idea of propping up a Sena-NCP government from outside. In fact, some of the young MLAs and party’s office-bearers in Maharashtra have aired an opinion that Congress could even join such a formation.

Meanwhile, in the NCP camp, sources said back-channel discussions with Sena continued. Pawar, who has already held deliberations with Gandhi in this regard, has convened a key meeting of the party’s MLAs in Mumbai on November 12. Pawar has so far publicly maintained that his party’s mandate was to sit in the Opposition.

The Congress, meanwhile, continues to remain wary of Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena. “Unless the Shiv Sena moves out of the NDA and gives a firm proposal regarding government formation, the Congress won’t be in a position to formally act on it,” said a senior Congress leader.