Taking a cue from its ally Congress, Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party on Monday chose to opt for the status quo and named Chhagan Bhujbal as the leader of its legislature party, paving the way for his becoming the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Bhujbal, 62, Deputy Chief Minister in the outgoing

ministry, would be holding the post for the third time.

The announcement of the senior NCP leader's name was made by Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel after a meeting of NCP legislature party here. The meeting had authorised NCP chief Sharad Pawar to decide on the new leader.

"NCP has decided to play safe and like Congress, which retained Ashok Chavan as chief minister, gone ahead and retained Bhujbal for the post," a senior NCP leader said.

Water Resources Minister Ajit Pawar, who was front-runner for the post, was among those who seconded the resolution authorising Sharad Pawar to name the leader. Bhujbal was the Deputy Chief Minister in the first Congress-NCP government sworn-in in 1999 but had to quit after a controversy.

He resigned that post following an attack on a TV channel office. He was targeted by his party rivals after allegations of involvement in multi-million-rupee Telgi scam. Bhujbal was sworn-in as Deputy Chief Minister for the second time in December last year.