Congress president Sonia Gandhi will meet Sharad Pawar tomorrow and is expected to pitch for her party’s nominee as CM in Maharashtra even though Pawar made it clear tonight that being the larger party, the NCP should get the job.While both sides, celebrating their victory, claimed that this was hardly an issue, the reality is far from it.At 10 Janpath, a beaming Sonia kept everyone guessing. Asked which of the two models—Karnataka and J&K—would determine the issue of chief ministership, all that Sonia said was: ‘‘We will sit together and discuss.’’Off the record, many Congress leaders argued this evening that since the party had ‘‘given’’ four seats to the CPM from its quota—of which the CPM won three—these should be counted in the Congress tally.They were also holding out the bait that in return for a Congress chief ministership, the NCP would get more plum portfolios in the state Cabinet and a ‘‘better deal’’ at the Centre.Down the road, Pawar was less cryptic. Before the final results came in, he said: ‘‘Congress should get the chief ministership even if they get one seat more than us.’’ But later tonight, with the NCP notching up two more seats than the Congress, he changed his line: ‘‘The old formula (which gives CM post to the larger party) should apply again.’’Asked if he himself would take the job, Pawar said, ‘‘I committed the blunder once because it was very difficult to say no to Narasimha Rao. Besides, I had an emotional involvement following the riots (in 1993).’’ There was no question now, he said, when ‘‘sons and daughters of my colleagues are MLAs.’’ Yet, NCP sources said should the party be asked to lead the government, there would be pressure from the rank and file on Pawar to take the job since there would be little consensus on other candidates. Pawar as CM would be bad news for the Congress since he would quickly consolidate the Congress base under his leadership.For the record, though, Pawar denied any such moves. He said there were ‘‘at least half-a-dozen’’ people in the running: Deputy Chief Minister Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil, state NCP chief R R Patil, Finance Minister Jayant Patil and Chhagan Bhujbal. He said nephew Ajit Pawar was not a contender.But sources said that none of these would have the ‘‘moral and political authority’’ that Pawar has after the victory. NCP MLAs would meet on Monday to elect their new leader. The central observers at the meeting would be general secretary Tariq Anwar, spokesman D P Tripathi and Praful Patel.From the Congress side, Sushilkumar Shinde remains the front-runner, even if it is a holding operation, for six months or so. Removing him at this stage, party circles feel, would send the wrong signal to Dalits with elections due in Haryana, Bihar and Jharkhand early next year. Particularly as the Congress has managed to retain its hold among the SCs and Mayawati has not made a dent.Moreover, Shinde would also be Pawar’s choice if the job were to go to the Congress. Shinde was his protege—Pawar inducted him into politics—and the NCP chief would not want a Maratha leader, be it Vilas Rao Deshmukh or Patangrao Kadam, as CM possibilities.
