india

Updated: Nov 01, 2019 04:41 IST

Senior leaders of the Congress’ Maharashtra unit will meet party president Sonia Gandhi on Friday to discuss several issues, including whether to pursue an alliance with the Shiv Sena and their next course of action in the state.

The delegation of more than six to seven leaders including Prithviraj Chavan, Ashok Chavan, and Balasaheb Thorat, are likely to meet the Congress president in New Delhi.

Former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan did not confirm or deny the meeting and said that he was in Delhi to be a part of the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration Award. He added that he has fixed or sought appointments with several leaders.

Another leader, privy to the developments, who did not wish to be named said that after the Maharashtra elections, there has been no meeting with the party president.

The leader added while Sonia Gandhi has conveyed to the state unit that she appreciated the efforts, the meeting will pave the way for the party’s position on several matters.

“On the meeting’s agenda is a discussion on how the Maharashtra unit will take part in the national level agitations on the economic slowdown. We will also discuss the appointment of the Congress legislature party leader, for which the AICC will send observers to the state soon,” said the leader.

Alliance matters, too, will be part of the discussion. The Congress, the leader said, is waiting for the Shiv Sena to go public with their stand on if they want an alliance with the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) combine.

“We are wary of the Sena’s position on the matter, and unless they tell us publicly, it might reflect badly on the party,” said the leader.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 105 seats and the Sena bagged 56 in the 288-member assembly. The opposition Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has 54 seats while its alliance partner Congress has 44. Independents and smaller parties together — including partners of both alliances — have 29 seats.

The BJP and Shiv Sena have been locked in a bitter tussle over sharing power after they were re-elected in the October 21 state elections.

The Sena had started the negotiations by demanding that the BJP stick to a 50-50 power-sharing formula the two parties had reportedly decided in February this year.

The BJP’s presumptive chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis, has denied that there was any decision to share the chief minister’s post.

Chavan had said on Wednesday that it will consider any concrete offer from the Sena.

But a day later, after the Congress and the NCP sought to distance themselves from the comment, Chavan said that it was his personal opinion.