As uncertainty prevails over government formation in Maharashtra, the Congress tried to keep its flock together at a resort near Jaipur while its MLAs were biding time with sightseeing in Rajasthan.
On Friday, the Congress moved 40 of its 44 MLAs, who won the recent state elections in Maharashtra, to Rajasthan. They reached Jaipur on Sunday after a round of sightseeing in Jodhpur, visit to Pushkar Fair and a Dargah in Ajmer.
The sightseeing continued on Sunday with a visit to Amer Fort in Jaipur.
Mallikarjun Kharge, Ashok Chavan, Avinash Pande, among other senior party leaders are keeping an eye on the flock. Mr Kharge also met them in Jaipur on Sunday to discuss the impasse in the state.
The party has been trying to keep its MLAs together as power tussle intensifies between the BJP and Shiv Sena over government formation in the state. The BJP won 105 seats and the Sena 56, which placed them comfortably ahead of the majority mark of 145 in the 288-member assembly.
However, the two parties are at loggerheads over the power-sharing arrangement in the state. Nearly two weeks after the election results were announced, the two allies have not yet resolved differences over the 50:50 deal, which Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said was discussed with the BJP during national elections.
On Sunday, the Sena was invited by Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to indicate "willingness and ability" to form government in the state after the BJP said it would not stake claim to power. It needs the support of the NCP and the Congress to do so. The Congress-NCP alliance won 99 seats in the state elections.
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, tipped to be Chief Minister with an NCP deputy, is expected to reach out to Congress ally and NCP chief Sharad Pawar today for government formation talks.
The Congress has today called a meeting of its decision-making group, the Working Committee (CWC), to discuss its options. Earlier party chief Sonia Gandhi had ruled out the possibility of aligning with the Shiv Sena.
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