In Maharashtra the Congress-NCP alliance is all set to assume power for the third successive term. Following the alliance victory in 144 seats the race for the post of Maharashtra chief Minister has begun. The front runners are out going Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, former Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and senior Congress leader and revenue minister Narayan Rane. The final decision will be taken by the Congress high command. All elected MLAs are likely to arrive in Mumbai on Friday; some observers from the Congress high command are also expected tomorrow. As clarified by the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Manikrao Thakre, the new Chief Minister would be selected from the Congress and not from the NCP.Congress today said that politics of those who have been talking about bipolarity in India has ended. The party spokesman Manish Tiwari however clarified that it does not mean that era of coalition politics is over. He said that victory of Congress NCP combine shows that people have rejected the politics of communalism. He refused to buy the argument that MNS played a spoiler for the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance.
News On AIR | October 23, 2009 8:42 PM
Race for Chief Ministership hots up in Maharashtra