Maharashtra Govt to be formed in 48 hrs: Chavan

Mumbai, Nov 4 : Maharashtra caretaker Chief Minister Ashok Chavan today sought to allay the concern of Governor S C Jamir over the inordinate delay in formation of the state government amid the main opposition's demand for imposition of President's rule, saying the new government will be formed within 48 hours.

In another development, Union Civil Aviation Minister and senior NCP leader Praful Patel, who is in Bangalore, expressed confidence that the present crisis over the formation of Maharashtra Ministry would end by tomorrow.

''We will form the new government within 48 hours as there is no infighting or differences and we will respect the views of the governor,'' Mr Chavan, who held three meetings in Mantralaya here, told reporters.

He said ''The government is still existing and functioning and I am also holding the meetings and all the issues will be resolved by this evening or tomorrow.'' The ministers concerned were present at the meeting.

Dr Jamir had yesterday asked Mr Chavan and his deputy Chhagan Bhujbal to honour the mandate of the people and form the government without any further delay.

Earlier in the day, Dr Jamir met a delegation of leaders from the BJP and the Shiv Sena and told them that he was already seized of the problem of delay caused in the formation of the government and was ''very anxious to have an elected government installed as early as possible.'' The Governor also informed them that since the electorate of Maharashtra had given the Congress-NCP alliance a fresh mandate, it was their responsibility to respect the mandate and form a government without inordinate delay.

Mr Chavan said the purchase of cotton under Cotton Monopoly Scheme will commence from tomorrow.

He also said nearly 15,000 cops, including 11,000 constables, will be recruited in the state soon.

''I have instructed the concerned department to prepare a proposal according to the manifesto of Congress-NCP to maintain the steady rates of essential commodities at fair price shops,'' he added.

Even as the talks between the Congress and the NCP, both on the strength of the respective parties in the new government and also on sharing of portfolios had not yielded any result so far, Mr Patel optimistically said, ''The present impasse will end by tomorrow evening and it would be a 'win-win' situation for both NCP and Congress.'' He said the dialogue was continuing over sharing of the portfolios and both NCP and the Congress have reached a final stage and the formation of the Cabinet would be a 'smooth' affair.

The Congress, which had won 82 seats in the October 13 elections, was keen to have a highest share in the ministry, while the NCP, finishing a poor second with 62 seats, was keen to revive the 1999 formula of sharing the berths equally. The two parties were also haggling for some of the key portfolios such as Home, Finance, Power and Rural Development.

Leader of the BJP in the Legislative Assembly Eknath Khadse and Shiv Sena Leader Subhash Desai, who called on the Governor, urged him to recommend President's rule in the state in the event of the Congress-NCP alliance failing to form the government within the next 24 hours.

They said the caretaker government of Chief Minister Ashok Chavan should not be allowed to function for an indefinite period. The delegation further pointed out that a large number of issues such as malnutrition in tribal areas, declaration of fair price to the agricultural produce, deterioration of law and order in the State were awaiting urgent attention from the Government.

--UNI

(c) 2009 Published with permission from United News of India.
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