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Sharad Pawar, Sonia Gandhi to meet on Sunday to discuss alliance with Shiv Sena

Earlier on Friday, the NCP chief said the coalition government of Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress will last the full five-year term if it came to power in Maharashtra.

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Sonia Gandhi and Sharad Pawar
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Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) counterpart Sharad Pawar will meet on Sunday to discuss the alliance with the Shiv Sena in Maharastra.

The meeting comes after leaders of the three parties met on Thursday and finalised a draft Common Minimum Programme (CMP) for a coalition government in Maharashtra.

"Congress alone can't decide things. NCP chief Sharad Pawar and AICC president Sonia Gandhi will sit together on 17 November and discuss the next course of action. They will decide how to solve this problem. After that only the other actions will follow," ANI quoted Congress' Mallikarjun Kharge as saying. 

"Once they both sit and discuss, only then will the political strategy be prepared. That will be followed and implemented," he added. 

Earlier on Friday, the NCP chief said the coalition government of Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress will last the full five-year term if it came to power in Maharashtra.

"The process to form the government has begun. The coalition government will last five years and there is no possibility of a mid-term poll in Maharashtra," Pawar said to reporters in Nagpur.

The leaders of the three parties have finalised the draft of CMP for a coalition government in Maharashtra after several rounds of consultations. 

Commenting on CMP drafted by the three parties, Pawar said that the government will be formed on the basis of the CMP.

The party chiefs - Sonia Gandhi, Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar of Congress, Shiv Sena and NCP, respectively - are to take the final call on the draft agreement. 

Meanwhile, the BJP on Friday seemed sure of returning to power with state party chief claiming support of 119 MLAs. 

The BJP which contested the October assembly election with Shiv Sena has 105 MLAs in the 288-member house and claims to have the support of independents and smaller parties. 

"We have the highest number. With 119 MLAs we'll form BJP government in the state, Devendra Fadnavis has expressed this confidence before party leaders. We're committed to give a stable govt to state. There can't be a government in Maharashtra without BJP," Maharastra unit chief Chandrakant Patil said. 

This comes a day after former Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis assured his party's MLAs that they will ultimately form the government in Maharashtra.

Shiv Sena and BJP contested the recently-held assembly elections together but failed to reach an agreement for government formation. The Shiv Sena's demand of 50-50 government formula, asking for the chief minister's post of two and half years was not accepted by the BJP.

After BJP failed to stake claim to form the government, the Shiv Sena has tried to enlist the support of NCP and Congress for an alliance government. 

Since Shiv Sena has 56 seats in the Maharashtra Assembly, way below the half-way mark of 144, it will need both the NCP's 54 and Congress' 44 legislators to reach the magic number.

President's Rule was imposed in the state on Thursday after Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's report to Centre that no stable government was possible in Maharashtra under the current political scenario.

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