New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi today (Oct 16, 2004) remained non-committal on the issue of giving Chief Ministership to NCP (Nationalist Congress Party), which has emerged as the single largest party in the Maharashtra Assembly polls.

"Let the final results come. We will sit together and discuss the issue," a beaming Sonia told reporters in reply to a volley of questions whether the Congress would give up the Chief Minister's post as the Sharad Pawar-led party had secured more seats than Congress.

Asked whether she would adopt the Kashmir formula on the leadership issue, the Congress president said that Kashmir was a special case but "we will sit together and decide."

To a question whether she had talked to Pawar in this regard, Sonia said that she had been trying to contact him on phone to congratulate him on the Congress-NCP combine's victory but so far she could not succeed in her efforts.

Asked what were the factors that had led the ruling alliance to victory, she said that it was because the Government did "some good work."

Expressing happiness over the party's victory in Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh, Sonia said, "We are very happy that we won especially in Maharashtra" even though there were conflicting reports in the media."

To a question whether she treated the victory as "personal", she quipped, "It is the victory of all. It is the victory of the people and partymen who worked hard."

Asked whether Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde would be rewarded by being retained as the leader in view of the poll results, she said, "I can tell you only after we have talks with NCP and other allies."

To another question whether the Congress would stake claim for Chief Ministership even though it had less seats than NCP, Sonia said "I will tell you later."