Sonia, Manmohan, Rahul greet Uddhav Thackeray

Congress President Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi on Thursday greeted Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray on taking over reins as Maharashtra Chief Minister, reminding him of the “extraordinary circumstances” that had brought him to power.

The three leaders, in separate letters, expressed regrets for not attending the swearing-in ceremony at the iconic Shivaji Park grounds in Mumbai and flagged the high expectations people of Maharashtra have from the Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena.

“The political atmosphere has become poisonous and the economy has collapsed, farmers are facing great distress... The people of Maharashtra expect the alliance to provide cohesive, purposeful, responsible, responsive and transparent administration and our collective effort will undoubtedly be to ensure that these expectations are fulfilled,” Sonia said.

Rahul also expressed confidence that the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi coalition will provide “a stable, secular and pro-poor government”.

Singh termed Thackeray's assumption of the chief minister's post as a “historic event”.

Thackeray's son Aditya had visited the national capital on Wednesday night to invite the Congress President and the former prime minister for the swearing-in ceremony of the coalition government.