Congress sources say a decision on Ashok Chavan's successor as Maharashtra chief minister would not be delayed beyond Wednesday.
Chavan resigned as chief minister, taking responsibility for the Adarsh building scam.
Sources said an overwhelming number of legislators feel the new chief minister should be chosen from amongst them and not imposed by the party's central leadership.
Over 20 legislators and ministers met Ashok Chavan at Varsha, his official residence, on Tuesday evening. Chavan may lobby for one of his loyalists to be appointed as his successor.
Congress party President Sonia Gandhi, who is reported to have asked Chavan to quit, met Mukherjee, Antony and her political secretary Ahmed Patel as well as other senior party leaders on Tuesday. On the agenda was the leadership change in Maharashtra as well as creating a strategy for the winter session of Parliament.
Sonia also met Congress General Secretary Mukul Wasnik, a Maharashtra politician. Wasnik is a Dalit; the Congress currently has no Dalit chief minister in any state.
Party General Secretary and Minister of State attached to the Prime Minister's Office Prithviraj Chavan, another likely contender for the post, also met Sonia on Tuesday.
Chavan belongs to the Maratha caste which dominates Maharashtra politics. A Rajya Sabha MP, he has a strong chance in the event that Sharad Pawar, leader of the Nationalist Congress Party which rules Maharashtra in alliance with the Congress, does not oppose him.
Sources say the NCP is not enthusiastic about Prithviraj Chavan's name. With four years left for the Maharashtra government in power, a senior Congress leader said the party leadership would like to keep in mind NCP sentiments while taking a decision on the next chief minister.
Sources added that the central leadership is seriously looking at Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil, a powerful politician who briefly left the Congress for the Shiv Sena.
Both Sonia Gandhi and Ahmed Patel appear to be backing the veteran Maratha politician. How Vikhe-Patil -- who is nearly 80 years old -- will fit in with party General Secretary Rahul Gandhi's agenda of installing younger leaders as chief ministers is not known.
Rahul wants the next chief minister to be 'clean, credible and able to deliver.' Rahul had backed Ashok Chavan for the Maharashtra chief ministership after the last state assembly election.
Also Read: Chavan's exit: Sonia will not tolerate corruption
