Maharashtra to get govt after such a long Congress-NCP tug of war

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Mumbai/New Delhi: Ending two weeks of bargaining, the Congress leadership finally acceded to conditions laid by its alliance partner, NCP, to pave the way for the formation of the new government in Maharashtra that will be sworn in on Saturday. The Congress, however, continued to struggle with ministry expansion plans in Haryana where the cap on ministerial berths has tied its hands.

Accepting the formula suggested by the NCP leadership, the Congress leadership has agreed to let the NCP retain portfolios that its nominees got in the last tenure of the coalition government, except for the health ministry which will now be with the Congress. The Congress gets 23 ministerial berths while the NCP will get 20.

Congress leaders here asserted that the party had to give up its claim over important portfolios such as home, finance, energy, rural development and tribal development after the NCP refused to agree to any change in the existing formula. Initially, the Congress, which made all-out efforts to wrest portfolios from the NCP on the ground that it had won 20 more seats, had outrightly rejected the portfolio allocation formula between the two parties in 1999.

In Haryana, the party till late Friday evening was attempting to evolve a formula that would satisfy different factions. The Congress has its hands tied as the 15% cap allows only 14 ministerial berths. With the party falling short of numbers, it had to secure the help of independents to form the government and promised four ministerial berths to them. This has left it with only nine berths.