Obama-Ashok Chavan meeting not yet fixed

Uncertainty persists over the meeting between US President Barack Obama and Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, even as the American president is scheduled to arrive here on Saturday.

"So far, we have not been intimated by the Centre about the schedule of the president's visit. I have been told that the visit to Mumbai is personal, and Delhi tour is official," Chavan told reporters here today.

Earlier, Chavan's request to meet Obama was turned down by the American officials saying several other chief ministers also want the President's appointment.

Chavan, meanwhile, is going to his home town Nanded for Diwali. "I would be celebrating Diwali with my family in Nanded and come back on November 6," he said.

Meanwhile, a Mantralaya official said that they are still trying to arrange Chavan's one-to-one interaction with Obama.

"The (US) president is having private meetings on the first day after the scheduled programmes, but we do not want that the chief minister should meet him with others. It has to be a separate meeting," the official said.