Top Aghadi leaders discuss ministry making in Maharashtra

Mumbai, Nov 27: Leaders of the 'Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi' (MVA) met on Wednesday, a day ahead of Chief Minister-designate Uddhav Thackeray's oath-taking ceremony as the process of forming the new council of ministers gathered momentum.

The meet took place at the YB Chavan Centre in south Mumbai. NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Thackeray, who is also the Sena president, and Congress veteran Ahmed Patel were among the leaders who held parleys over the council of ministers and the swearing-in ceremony, to be held at the Shivaji Park in Dadar on Thursday evening.

Congress general secretary in-charge for Maharashtra Mallikarjun Kharge joined the leaders later. "We have sorted all issues," Patel told reporters after the meeting, without divulging details pertaining to the number of ministers who will take oath on Thursday with Thackeray. He said the media will be informed about the details of who will take oath on Thursday morning.

Maharashtra Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat also refused to divulge any details but said the number of ministers to be sworn-in was not yet decided. The meeting follows Pawar's parleys with Patel, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal and others at the former's residence here earlier in the day.

The Sena, the NCP and the Congress on Tuesday named Thackeray as the chief ministerial nominee of the MVA, the three-party front forming the next government in the state. Ever since the Sena reached out to the NCP and the Congress for a post-poll alliance, Pawar has been at the centre of government formation talks between the three main constituents of the newly-minted bloc.