There is no dispute between the Congress and its ally, the Nationalist Congress Party, over Cabinet berths and the Ministers will be sworn in on Thursday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said on Wednesday.
Mr. Chavan and other Congress leaders met NCP president Sharad Pawar before leaving for New Delhi to finalise the list. On Tuesday, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar of the NCP raised the party's demand to 21 berths, up from 20 agreed to in 2009.
The party claimed that it had 21 berths, but kept one vacant in the previous Ministry. Mr. Chavan said nothing would come in the way of Cabinet expansion.
Issue of extra seat
NCP State president Madhukar Pichad said the party would not make an issue of the extra seat, which demand could be sorted out later. The Chief Minister would finalise the Congress list; depending on it, the NCP could have another meeting on Thursday. The NCP had almost finalised its list, but there could be some changes. “We will work together, and our leaders have already indicated that there is cordiality between the parties,” said Mr. Pichad.
NCP leader Praful Patel, endorsing Mr. Chavan's views, said the discussions were cordial and things were going well for the coalition.
