Mumbai: A crucial two-hour long meeting of the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress concluded here on Friday evening with a call to Sena President Uddhav Thackeray to accept the post of Maharashtra chief minister.
The new government in Maharashtra will be led by Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, NCP president Sharad Pawar said on Friday, signalling end of speculation on who will occupy the chief minister's post as efforts to install a non-BJP dispensation in the state gathered pace.
"The issue of leadership is not pending. There are no two opinions on the issue of chief ministership. There was a consensus on Uddhav Thackeray leading the new government," he told reporters after the meeting.
However, Uddhav Thackeray has reportedly sought time to think over the proposal and is likely to convey the same to the NCP-Congress later tonight or Saturday morning, according to a party source.
Asked about Pawar's statement on Thackeray's leadership, Sena MLA Eknath Shinde, who attended the meeting, separately told reporters there was "no discussion on that issue".
Shinde, who was elected as the leader of the Sena's legislative wing last month, is seen as one of the contenders for the chief minister's post.
Significantly, after the meeting in Nehru Centre, Worli, Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aditya Thackeray paid an unscheduled visit to the Bal Thackeray National Memorial and paid homage to the Sena founder.
On his part, Uddhav Thackeray said that he did not want to share "any incomplete information on anything".
Among the constraints being discussed within the Sena is how to prevent two independent power centres from developing if Uddhav Thackeray becomes the Chief Minister -- one at the government level and the other at the party level.
Meanwhile, NCP's chief spokesperson Nawab Malik said Pawar has been insisting on Thackeray to lead the government.
Final decision on Saturday
The proposed 'Maha Vikas Aghadi' comprising the Sena-NCP-Congress is likely to hold a press conference on Saturday where the final details will be shared with the media.
Pawar said the meeting at Nehru Centre at Worli deliberated extensively on agenda for governance for the prospective dispensation.
"There will be a press conference tomorrow after everything is finalised," said the former Union minister, who is at the centre of government formation talks in Maharashtra, where assembly poll results were announced nearly a month ago.
Shinde, Subhash Desai, Sanjay Raut (all Shiv Sena), Ahmed Patel, Mallikarjun Kharge, K C Venugopal, Avinash Pande, Balasaheb Thorat, Prithviraj Chavan (Congress), Praful Patel, Jayant Patil and Ajit Pawar (NCP) took part in the meeting.
The state has been facing a political crisis after the Sena broke its three-decade-long ties with the BJP after the latter declined to share the chief minister's post.
The BJP and the Sena, which fought the Assembly polls in alliance, had secured a comfortable majority by winning 105 and 56 seats, respectively, in the 288-member Assembly.
The NCP and the Congress, pre-poll allies, won 54 and 44 seats, respectively.
The combined tally of the Sena, the NCP and the Congress is way beyond the majority mark of 145.
The state is currently under President's rule.
(With inputs from PTI and IANS)
