Maharashtra CM Chavan meets Congress chief Sonia Gandhi - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan today held discussions with Congress President Sonia Gandhi, a day after the party sealed a deal with its ally, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to form a government in the state. Chavan is understood to have discussed the allocation of portfolios at the meeting. Senior Congress leaders A K Antony and Ahmad Patel were also present. The Congress and the NCP announced on November 5 that they had reached an agreement on power sharing and a new government is likely to be sworn in on November 6. The Congress and the NCP rode back to power for the third time in a row defeating the opposition Shiv Sena-BJP in a mainly four-cornered contest in which the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and the Third Front successfully made inroads. The NCP is expected to retain the key portfolios of Home, Finance, Power and Rural Development, while the Congress could get Public Health. State Governor S C Jamir had earlier nudged both the parties to form a government at the earliest.