Ajit Pawar, Jayant Patil to lead NCP talks with Congress

While Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar kept up the suspense over government formation in Maharashtra, both NCP and Congress are trying to formulate a common strategy at the highest level to resolve all issues related to their tie-up.

NCP leaders Ajit Pawar and Jayant Patil are likely to lead the talks with Congress, and are set to fly down to Delhi for the talks.

The decision to form a committee was arrived at during a meeting between interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi and NCP chief Sharad Pawar here on Monday.

Both the parties will arrive at a Common Minimum Programme (CMP) before presenting it to Sonia Gandhi and Pawar.

The Congress has already formed a committee comprising Ahmed Patel, Mallikarjun Kharge and K.C. Venugopal. Sources said that leaders from Maharashtra are also likely to be accommodated. Two former Chief Ministers, Ashok Chavan and Prithviraj Chavan, are likely to be part of the deliberations.

After the Congress and the NCP arrive at a common programme, they will take the matter to Shiv Sena, sources said.

Leaders from both the parties also wanted to take into confidence the smaller parties which have been in alliance before the Assembly elections in Maharashtra.

The Congress is wary of the tantrums of Shiv Sena.

Sonia Gandhi is keen that before moving forward, all issues should be settled, sources added.IANS