New Delhi:
In a mid-night development, seat-sharing talks between the Congress and the NCP in Maharashtra seems to have "made some progress".
Senior Congress sources have told NDTV that the alliance "seems in place".
Congress president Sonia Gandhi had a round of discussions with her political secretary Ahmed Patel and A K Antony, after NCP leader Sharad Pawar returned to the capital. As both sides are keen on an alliance, a formal seat-sharing pact may be finalised Monday.
The two sides have been negotiating for weeks and senior leaders say negotiations have entered a final phase now.
Congress leaders are offering the NCP 109 seats, while the Congress wants to contest on 179 seats, according to sources.
They added that some Congressmen want tie-up, but friendly fights in pockets. The NCP, meanwhile, has rejected the proposal for any friendly fights.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi will be in Mumbai to inaugurate the renovated office of Mumbai Regional Congress Committee opposite the Brihan-Mumbai Municipal Corporation building.
Gandhi will be accompanied by Defence Minister A K Antony who is in charge of the party's Maharashtra affairs and NCP chief and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.
The Congress sources have, however, said that the party will not link alliance talks with Sonia's Maharashtra visit.
The Congress had won 69 seats and the NCP 71 in the last assembly election in Maharashtra.