Ashok Chavan, Industry minister in the Vilasrao Deshmukh government and son of former Maharashtra chief minister SB Chavan seems to be the frontrunner in the race to the CM post in Maharashtra.

He is believed to have outrun revenue minister Narayan Rane even though Rane, who was the CM during the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance government in the late nineties, lobbied hard in a spirit of do-or-die.

Other contenders comprised Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil, MP and sugar baron and Union ministers Sushilkumar Shinde and Prithviraj Chavan.

A seven-hour meeting to select Mr. Deshmukh's successor apparently ended with a majority of MLAs backing Mr Chavan. Nonetheless, the two observers, Pranab Mukherjee and AK Antony, didn't announce the result even after the meeting ended, as they wanted to get final consent from NCP chief Sharad Pawar and party chief Sonia Gandhi.

The party president was in a meeting with foreign delegates, in New Delhi, which ostensibly delayed the announcement further.

According to the sources, Mr. Vilasrao Deshmukh was monitoring the situation from the adjacent room. He is believed to have supported Chavan.