NEW DELHI, 18 October 2004 — With numbers in his favor, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar yesterday met Congress party President Sonia Gandhi and staked the claim to Maharashtra chief minister’s post for his party, which has emerged as the single largest party in the assembly poll.

“We are ready to show our figure. Our position is good,” Pawar told reporters in New Delhi soon after the meeting, the first between the two leaders after the poll.

Pawar, who had late in the evening on Saturday asserted his party was entitled to have the chief ministership, said the 1999 formula was discussed in the meeting with Sonia.

Under the formula NCP had conceded the chief minister’s post to the national party which had more number of MLAs.

In the just-concluded poll, NCP has won 71 seats and the Congress 69.

To a question about Congress claiming that the three seats won by the CPI(M), to which it had allotted five, should be added to its kitty, Pawar said, “We are prepared to discuss any methodology” and make a list of MLAs supporting each of the alliance partners.

Pawar said he does not dispute the Congress claim of support of Left parties as they had allotted seats to the CPM.

However, he said, “We can also show our supporters. There are 9 to 10 idependents who back us.”

NCP leader Praful Patel will meet senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel and exchange list of supporters of the two parties to show who has more numbers, Pawar said.

Senior party leaders Tariq Anwar, D.P. Tripathi and Praful Patel will attend the NCP Legislature Party meeting in Bombay today.

“They will interact with the MLAs and come back to Delhi,” Pawar said.

Asked how much time would it take to select the chief minister, he said, “The process could take two to four days. Last time (in 1999) it took 10 days.” Whether any names were discussed for the post of the chief minister, Pawar replied in the negative.

In the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, Congress has won 69 seats and its junior partner NCP, which contested just 124 constituencies, has secured 71 seats.

NCP ally RPI (A) has got one seat and Congress ally CPM three.

Jana Surajya Shakti, born out of a fight with NCP, has secured three seats.

The Shiv Sena-BJP combine got 119 seats with the Maharashtra party bagging 62 on its own and the national party 56.

Their ally Swatantra Bharat Party headed by Sharad Joshi got one seat.

The Congress seems to be in no mood to give up the chief minister’s post arguing that the party along with its other allies has won more seats than the NCP.

“Congress and other friendly parties have more in their kitty than the Sharad Pawar-led party,” party observer Digvijay Singh said responding to NCP’s claim for the post of chief minister as it had emerged as the single largest party.

Congress had contested 157 seats. But the party had spared three seats from its quota for CPM, two seats for RPI (G) and two for independents, Hitendra Thakur (Vasai) and Harshvardhan Patil (Indapur), CPM won all the three seats and so did the independents. However, RPI (G) drew a blank, he said.

Congress tally with its allies therefore went up to 74, while the NCP, on the other hand, had won 71 seats.

The party had spared one seat for RPI-A in Ulhasnagar which was in its kitty thus NCP with allies accounted for 72, he said.

Singh, who is camping here, said Congress leaders were engaged in confabulations since late last night and senior party observers Ghulam Nabi Azad and Pranab Mukherjee were expected to arrive here yesterday ahead of the Congress Legislature Party meeting in the city.

The Congress leaders held meetings lasted till early this morning to discuss the chief ministership issue. Among those present were Singh, Margaret Alva, MPCC Chief Prabha Rau and Sanjay Dutt, MLC.