A meeting with the Congress scheduled on Tuesday to further discuss the possibility of forming a government in Maharashtra was called off due to pre-occupation of Congress leaders with Indira Gandhi's birth anniversary events, NCP leader Nawab Malik said.

He said Congress leaders requested that the meeting be postponed to Wednesday.

The two sides have deputed leaders for holding talks on a possible alliance.

Accordingly Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Ahmed Patel and K. C. Venugopal besides some state leaders and NCP's Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare, Ajit Pawar and Jayant Patil were scheduled to meet to explore the possibility of an alliance with the Shiv Sena in the state.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar held a meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday. Pawar said if the NCP-Congress have to take a view on government formation, they have to first discuss it between themselves.

In the October 21 Maharashtra polls, the BJP-Sena alliance secured a comfortable majority by winning 105 and 56 seats, respectively, in the 288-member Assembly. The Congress and the NCP, pre-poll allies, won 44 and 54 seats, respectively.

However, failing to gain a consensus over the chief minister's post, the BJP and Sena parted ways, with the Sena exploring the possibility of tying up with the Congress-NCP.