Leaders of the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress are holding a rare meeting at Mumbai’s Nehru Centre to attempt to close the deal to form the next Maharashtra government.
The Shiv Sena is expected to lead the coalition, believed to have been tentatively named Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi, but the point of who will head the government is still an open question.
The Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP have made it clear that it would be best if Uddhav Thackeray, the 59-year-old supremo of the Sena, assumes the chief minister’s chair. Sharad Pawar is learnt to have made the point again at his midnight meeting with Uddhav Thackeray when the Sena boss drove down to Sharad Pawar’s south Mumbai residence.
Thackeray, who has been reluctant to assume the top role, is learnt to have indicated that he wanted to consult his party leaders. The leadership question did come up when Uddhav Thackeray spoke to his party’s lawmakers earlier in the day. The Sena boss was their unanimous choice.
It is not clear yet if Uddhav Thackeray will go along with this view.
The NCP and the Congress have told Thackeray that his presence in the lead role would strengthen the coalition government, particularly since the two parties have many heavyweights who were likely to be part of the coalition government.
