Maharashtra Govt formation: Pawar to meet Sonia on Monday
Pune, Nov 17: The NCP has said that its supremo Sharad Pawar will meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday to discuss the government formation in Maharashtra.
NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik made the announcement on Sunday evening after a meeting of the party's core committee at Pawar's residence here.
Malik said that the core committee was of the view that the current President's rule in Maharashtra should end, and an "alternative government" should be formed.
The NCP is in talks with its ally Congress for a possible alliance with the Shiv Sena, after the Sena's alliance with the BJP fell apart over the chief minister's post.
"We had a discussion over the current political situation in the state, and we have come to the conclusion that the President's rule should end and an alternative government should be formed," said Malik.
"Sharad Pawar and Sonia Gandhi will meet on Monday and discuss the possibility of formation of alternative government in Maharashtra," he said.
"On Tuesday, (other) leaders from the NCP and Congress will meet and discuss future course of action," he added.
The NCP core committee's meeting, which lasted for over two hours, was attended by Jayant Patil, Dilip walse Patil, Chhagan Bhujbal, Ajit Pawar, Supriya Sule, Sunil Tatkare, Dhananjay Munde and others.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said that "we are trying to find if the Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP can come together".
"There will be a meeting tomorrow between Sena and Congress leaders. We will find out if we can go ahead or not," the former chief minister told reporters.
Maharashtra was placed under President's rule on November 12 after no party or alliance staked claim to form government.
The Sena reached out to the Congress-NCP combine for support after its alliance with the BJP collapsed.
The saffron alliance had secured a comfortable majority by winning 105 and 56 seats, respectively, in the 288-member Assembly.
The Congress and NCP, pre-poll allies, won 44 and 54 seats.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
