Interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday gave in-principle approval to an alliance with Shiv Sena to form a government in Maharashtra. The decision, sources in NCP told India Today TV, was taken during her meeting with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Monday.

Congress leaders will now meet NCP leaders at Supriya Sule's residence at 6 Janpath in New Delhi later this evening to hammer out remaining issues in the common minimum programme and cabinet portfolio distribution.

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Sharad Pawar, whose meeting with Sonia Gandhi was being billed as a major step towards a tie-up with the Shiv Sena for government formation in the state, had said that there was no discussion on a common minimum programme (CMP) during the talks.

Keeping his cards close to his chest, Sharad Pawar had said that he had only discussed the political situation in Maharashtra with Sonia Gandhi and the two parties will hold talks with their other allies before making a decision on government formation in the state.

Now, the sources have confirmed that the decision was taken by Sonia Gandhi on Monday itself.

If the discussion between Congress and NCP leaders goes smoothly, the Sena-NCP-Congress alliance may stake a claim at power in the first week of December.

In the October 21 Maharashtra polls, the BJP-Sena alliance had secured a comfortable majority by winning 105 and 56 seats respectively in the 288-member Assembly. The Congress and the NCP, the pre-poll allies, had won 44 and 54 seats respectively.