LD-MAHA 2 LAST

"Cabinet formation was discussed with Congress President
along with senior leaders Ahmed Patel and A K Antony. The
proposal is under consideration. Perhaps we will get the final
nod by the evening," Chavan said in reply to a volley of
questions on the issue. He suggested that Congress could be
getting Public Health portfolio.

He steered clear of the issue as to which party will have
the key post of the Assembly Speaker. "Discussions are still
on," he merely said. In the previous Assembly, the post was
with NCP.
Chavan was re-elected Congress Legislature Party leader
soon after the elections and Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan
Bhujbal the NCP Legislature Party leader.
In the Assembly polls, Congress secured the number one
spot with 82 seats while NCP bagged 62 in the 288-member House
making mince meat of the opposition Shiv Sena-BJP challenge.
In the mainly four-cornered Assembly polls, Maharashtra
Navnirman Sena and the Third Front also tried to make inroads.
Decks were cleared for formation of the new government
with Congress and NCP announcing last night that they had
reached an agreement on power sharing after an intense tussle
over getting plum portfolios.
While the details of the 2009 power sharing formula are
not known, NCP is expected to retain key portfolios of Home,
Finance, Power and PWD.
As government formation was delayed after declaration of
results on October 22 due to hard negotiations between the two
parties over portfolio-sharing, Governor S C Jamir had
recently nudged both of them to show a sense of urgency to put
in place a government. PTI SPG
SDE


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