Maha Cong ministers meet Sonia, Rahul amid discontent

 After the cabinet expansion in Maharashtra, Congress Ministers met party interim president Sonia Gandhi and former chief Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday here. The ministers were accompanied by Mallikarjun Kharge, K.C. Venugopal and party secretary Ashish Dua.

Senior ministers, including Balasaheb Thorat and Ashok Chavan, who took oath on Monday, also met the top leadership.

The Congress in the state has been facing internal differences with some senior leaders saying that they have been ignored in the cabinet expansion. From Mumbai Amin Patel, the two time MLA was expecting a cabinet berth, but was overlooked while as younger members -- Aslam Sheikh and Varsha Gaikwad -- were inducted in the cabinet.

The senior leaders have made their grievances known to the party leadership. The Congress, which came fourth in the Assembly polls is now planning to accommodate senior leaders in the party and many may be assigned organisational work, said a source.

While a leader said that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the party outreach program in the state and also to give a feedback on the alliance.

One of the ministers said that the meeting was a thanksgiving message to the party chief and take direction from the top leadership on how to move forward in the state.

The Congress has got 12 berths in the cabinet and is eyeing some key portfolios. Apart from the speaker's post, the party has to appoint a new state president as Bala Saheb Thorat has been inducted in the cabinet.

Former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, who was the frontrunner for the speaker's post is now being considered for the state chief post. Another former chief minister Ashok Chavan is also now part of the cabinet.IANS