After 14 days of bickering, the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party finally reached an agreement on power sharing in Maharashtra on Thursday. But it terms still remain unclear.
Congress’s Ashok Chavan is expected to take oath as chief minister of a Congress-Nationa-list Party
coalition on Saturday.
Congress sources maintained the Congress would establish its primacy with a larger share of ministries, 23 against 20 for the NCP. But NCP leader Praful Patel said in Mumbai the 1999 formula for seat sharing would hold good and denied reports the Congress would get 23 ministerial berths and NCP 20.
Under the 1999 formula, the Congress got the post of the chief minister and the NCP held key portfolios like home, finance, power and PWD.
The two parties will have one final round of talks on Friday.
“You will get the details tomorrow,’’ said A. K. Antony, Congress in-charge of Mahara-shtra after a meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her political secretary Ahmed Patel and Chavan.