Pawar pushes power envelope

NCP would extend 'outside support' to Govt if denied CM's post, report Vinod Sharma and Saroj Nagi.

Pressure is mounting on the Congress to concede the chief minister's post in Maharashtra to the NCP with Sharad Pawar telling its alliance partner that his party would extend 'outside support' to the government in the event of being denied the top slot.

HT Image

The NCP leader conveyed his position through civil aviation minister Praful Patel, who met Congress president Sonia Gandhi's political secretary, Ahmed Patel, here on Sunday. Earlier in the day, Pawar had a brief meeting with Sonia in the presence of the two Patels.

In 1999, the Congress had secured the CM's post as the single largest party in the state assembly, the position from which it now stands demoted.

In the ongoing negotiations, the numbers thrown up by the latest polls have placed it in a position of disadvantage. In the new House -- to be constituted by October 20 — the NCP has 71 seats and the Congress 69.