Maha deal stitched, to be sealed on Thursday

New Delhi: Triggering speculation that the much-awaited Maharashtra deal is more or less closed, Shiv Sena strategist Sanjay Raut said that there will be good news soon. “As soon as the Congress-NCP meeting is over, we will meet Pawar sahib”, said Raut.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi appears to have come around and finally given the green signal to the coalition with Shiv Sena and NCP for government formation in Maharashtra.

Congress leader Prithiviraj Chauhan added ballast by saying that they hope to form the government in Maharashtra soon. Certain specifics need to be thrashed out, he added.

Meanwhile, Nawab Malik of NCP quickly added that only these three parties can form the government.

The formula is 16:15:12, with 16 Cabinet Ministers for the Shiv Sena, 15 for the NCP and 12 for the Congress plus Speaker of the Assembly.

The Chief Minister will be on a rotation basis with Shiv Sena holding the CM post for the first 2.5 years and NCP to hold the CM post for the second half of the term.