The Congress Working Committee on Thursday granted in-principle approval to the party to form government in Maharashtra along with the Nationalist Congress Party and the Shiv Sena, sources said.
In a meeting chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi at her 10, Janpath residence, the party's highest decision-making body also deliberated on the Maharashtra political scenario, they said.
After the meeting, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal told the media that the Congress Working Committee was briefed on the party's discussions with the NCP on Wednesday.
Congress sources said the final decision on the government formation in Maharashtra is expected by Friday.
"The CWC has broadly agreed to go ahead with government formation with the Shiv Sena and the NCP," the source said.
"Another meeting between the Congress and the NCP is to happen on Thursday night and a final meeting with Shiv Sena will happen on Friday in Mumbai. The decision on government formation in Maharashtra will be announced in Mumbai on Friday," the source said.
Former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, after the marathon meeting between senior Congress and NCP leaders on Wednesday, had expressed confidence about the alliance forming a "stable" government soon in the state.
While the Congress leader hoped that political uncertainty in Maharashtra will soon end, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik was unambiguous about the need to join hands with the Sena, asserting that a government cannot be formed in the state without the three parties coming together.
This was the most emphatic public statement by the Congress-NCP combine so far about its intent to join hands with the Sena to form a government.
A senior NCP leader had said on Wednesday that the government is likely to be formed before the first phase of the Jharkhand Assembly polls scheduled on November 30.
NCP sources said the chief minister's post is most likely to be on a rotational basis, with the first half to be given to the Shiv Sena and the latter to the NCP.
The Congress is likely to have the deputy chief minister's post for the full five-year term, they said.
The CWC on Thursday, the sources said, also discussed the issue of electoral bonds and decided that the Narendra Modi government will be cornered over it both inside Parliament and outside.
