Under pressure, Ashok Chavan promises govt in 48 hours

State governor SC Jamir did not mince words while directing the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to respect the public mandate. The firm handling seems to have worked. The top leadership of both the parties has galvanised into action, promising to form government within 48 hours. If they stick to that schedule, the oath-taking ceremony may well take place on Friday.

For the second consecutive day on Wednesday, Jamir issued a stern warning to the alliance partners, asking them to set aside their dispute over portfolio division to enable formation of the government.

Chief minister-designate Ashok Chavan, who got back to administrative work at the Mantralaya as head of the caretaker government, was quick to respond to the governor’s ultimatum. “We are confident of having the government in place within the next 48 hours.
We have expedited the talks to resolve our differences,” he said. NCP senior leader and Union civil aviation minister Praful Patel also added his voice, saying, “Yes, we will form the government in 48 hours.”

On Wednesday, the governor had added to the pressure building on the combine by issuing a press note after meeting the leaders of the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party.  “I am very anxious to have an elected government installed as early as possible,” the two-page note quoted Jamir as saying.

“I have already reminded the chief minister Ashok Chavan and the NCP leaders Chhagan Bhujbal and RR Patil on Tuesday that since the electorate of Maharashtra had given them a fresh mandate, it was their responsibility to respect the mandate and form a government without any further delay.”

The business of stitching up loose ends began late on Wednesday night after NCP president Sharad Pawar summoned deputy chief minister-designate Chhagan Bhujbal, state NCP chief RR Patil and water resources minister Ajit Pawar to Delhi for detailed discussions. The all India Congress Committee general secretary and Sonia Gandhi’s political advisor Ahmed Patel too held a meeting with Praful Patel.

Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Manikrao Thakre tried to underplay the delay, saying, “In 1999 and 2004, the Congress-NCP coalition government was formed after 15 and 13 days respectively. In that sense, the current process of government formation cannot be criticised.” He was quick to add that those delays were also “on account of differences over division of portfolios”.

However, the differences seem to be on course for a resolution with highly-placed sources in the state administration and the Raj Bhavan indicating that preparations have begun for the oath-taking ceremony to take place on Friday.