'NCP will stick to the plum portfolios in Maha'

The Nationalist Congress Party would not to be a part of the Maharashtra government if Congress does not follow the 1999 formula of allocation of key home, finance and power portfolios to it, party leader Ajit Pawar said on Tuesday.

The NCP said it will stick to the 1999 portfolio sharing formula and has ruled out giving away plum posts of home, finance and power to the Congress.

A day after he was sidelined for the post of Maharashtra deputy chief minister, Pawar on Tuesday said he would abide by the decision, which he termed as 'collective.'

"The decision (to name Chagan Bhujbal as deputy CM) was a collective one and there are no differences. Nothing wrong has happened. No decision has been imposed," NCP chief Sharad Pawar's nephew said.

Ajit Pawar also appealed to the people of the state and specially the NCP workers to respect the decision.

"The Congress-NCP ruling combine will work as a team and give results," the minister said.

However, Ajit Pawar on Tuesday stayed away from a party meeting to discuss the issue of portfolio allocation between the ruling allies, held at the residence of Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel in south Mumbai and attended by NCP legislature party leader Chhagan Bhujbal, state unit president R R Patil and a few other leaders.

The deliberations revolved around finalising the list of probables from the NCP quota.

The Congress-NCP talks for portfolio sharing are slated in Delhi, with NCP chief Sharad Pawar expected to meet Union Defence Minister and All India Congress Committee general secretary A K Antony, the Congress sources said.