Maha Congress leaders meet Sharad Pawar to discuss prevailing political situation in state

Senior Maharashtra Congress leaders on Friday met Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar to discuss the prevailing political situation in the state.

The meeting took place at YB Chavan Centre in south Mumbai in the evening, sources in the NCP said. Congress state unit president Nana Patole, former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and senior leader Naseem Khan were present at the meeting. NCP state chief Jayant Patil and his party MLAs Shashikant Shinde and Rohit Pawar, who is Sharad Pawar's grand-nephew, also took part in the discussion, they said.

The meeting was held against the backdrop of the Congress not staking a claim to the post of the Leader of Opposition in the assembly after Ajit Pawar and his supporters broke away from the Sharad Pawar-founded party and joined the government early this month. The discussion with Pawar also came ahead of the proposed meeting of the opposition's INDIA alliance in Mumbai next month