Senior Congress leaders expected to meet Sonia

NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leaders from Maharashtra are expected to meet party president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi on Friday to discuss the “next course of action” in the state, a leader with knowledge of the matter said.

The development assumes significances as it comes at a time when the BJP and its ally Shiv Sena have been locked in a bitter tussle over sharing power after the saffron combine was re-elected in the October 24 counting of votes for the state elections held three days earlier.

A delegation of 6-7 leaders, including Prithviraj Chavan, Ashok Chavan, and Balasaheb Thorat, is likely to meet the party president on Friday.

Former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan neither confirmed nor denied this development, saying he was in Delhi to attend an event held to present the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration.

A second leader said on condition of anonymity this would be their first meeting with the party chief after the Maharashtra assembly elections, and that a number of issues are likely to be discussed on Friday.

“On the agenda is a discussion on how the Maharashtra unit will take part in the national level agitations on [the issue of] economic slowdown. We will also discuss the appointment of the Congress legislature party leader, for which the AICC will send observers to the state soon,” said the leader. Alliance matters may also be discussed during Friday’s meeting, the leader said. He added that the Congress is waiting for the Shiv Sena to go public first, if it wants an alliance with the Congress-ncp combine.