New Delhi, November 20: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi today. NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said that Sharad Pawar will discuss farmers' issues in Maharashtra during his meeting with PM Narendra Modi. The two leaders will meet at a time when the NCP and the Congress are in talks with the Shiv Sena to form government in Maharashtra. Maharashtra Government Formation Likely in Early December, All Eyes on Congress-NCP Meet.

"NCP chief Sharad Pawar will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi today in Parliament, over farmers' issues in Maharashtra. We will demand some relief for the farmers from the Prime Minister," Nawab Malik told news agency ANI. The meeting will be held at 12 noon in Parliament. On Monday, PM Modi had praised Pawar's NCP in Rajya Sabha. "Today I want to appreciate two parties, NCP and BJD. These parties have strictly adhered to parliamentary norms," PM Modi had said. BJP Shuts Door on Shiv Sena, Ram Madhav Calls Sanjay Raut 'Uddhav Thackeray's Joseph Goebbels'.

Pawar's meeting PM Modi also comes two days after he met Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi. While Pawar did not tell reporters anything except that farmers' issues were discussed, a Congress leader said: "The discussion centred around government formation with the Sena and the power-sharing formula." After the Shiv Sena snapped ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the NCP and the Congress are in talks with the Uddhav Thackeray-led party to form government in Maharashtra. Maharashtra: Deputy CM of Congress, Muslim Reservation Could Be Included in 'Common Minimum Programme'.

Congress and NCP leaders have held a series of meetings in the last few days to finalise modalities for a Sena-led government in Maharashtra. In the 288-member assembly, the BJP emerged as the single largest party winning 105 seats, and along with its longtime ally, Shiv Sena was in a comfortable position to form a government. The Shiv Sena, however, with 56 legislators refused to join the BJP in forming a government, insisting on rotational chief ministership.

On November 12, President's rule was imposed in Maharashtra after the Shiv Sena refused to form a government with the BJP and no other party came forward to stake claim.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 20, 2019 09:58 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).