Deshmukh stakes claim in Maharashtra

Congress leader Vilasrao Deshmukh on Saturday night staked claim to form the government in Maharashtra.

Accompanied by Nationalist Congress Party legislative party leader R R Patil, Deshmukh met Governor Mohammed Fazal and staked his claim.

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The senior Congress leader drove to Raj Bhavan after he returned from Delhi, where he had a meeting with party president Sonia Gandhi.

Later, the chief minister-designate and deputy chief minister-designate posed for waiting photographers.

Besides Deshmukh and Patil, others present included senior Congress leader Govindrao Adik, Patangrao Kadam, state party chief Prabha Rau, Kripashankar Singh, NCP leaders Gurunath Kulkarni and Vasant Chavan and Harshvardhan Patil, an independent legislator from Indapur.