BJP leaders meet Fadnavis after Mahayuti’s landslide win
MUMBAI, Nov 24: Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Sunday said the Mahayuti leaders and BJP leadership will decide who will be the next chief minister of the state.
Bawankule also said the people of Maharashtra have rejected the Congress, noting that its state unit chief Nana Patole won by a margin of just around 200 votes.
The BJP-led Mahayuti, which also comprises the Shiv Sena of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and NCP of deputy CM Ajit Pawar, on Saturday retained power in the state by bagging 230 of the 288 assembly seats.
The Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi’s dream of wresting power fizzled, with the opposition combine managing to garner just 46 seats.
Bawankule here said all sections of the society supported the BJP in the Maharashtra assembly polls.
On the issue of the next CM of the state, he said the Mahayuti leaders and the BJP leadership will decide on it.
He also said the Congress’ lies were to blame for no party getting enough seats to stake claim for the post of leader of opposition in assembly.
The Mahayuti’s landslide in Maharashtra will leave the state assembly without a leader of opposition as no party outside the ruling alliance has been able to get the mandatory minimum 29 seats.
FADNAVIS
BJP national joint general secretary Shiv Prakash and Maharashtra unit head Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Sunday met Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at his residence here on Sunday.The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance on Saturday retained power in Maharashtra, pocketing a whopping 230 of the 288 assembly seats.
The focus has now shifted to BJP leader Fadnavis, the architect of his party’s stunning victory as it bagged 132 of the 149 seats it contested in the state.
Political circles are abuzz with reports that the state’s second Brahmin to become the CM will don the post for the third time.
On Sunday, BJP leaders Shiv Prakash and Bawankule arrived at Fadnavis’ ‘Sagar’ bungalow in the Malabar Hill area here to meet him.
The tenure of the current state assembly ends on Tuesday, which has also necessitated meetings among leaders of the ruling allies to finalise the name for the chief minister’s post.
SHINDE SHOULD CONTINUE: SHIV SENA
Shiv Sena MLAs feel Eknath Shinde should continue to work as the chief minister of Maharashtra, state minister and party leader Deepak Kesarkar said on Sunday.
A day after the Mahayuti coalition of which Shiv Sena is a constituent scored a stupendous victory in the state assembly polls, Kesarkar met Shinde at the latter’s residence in Mumbai.
“Shiv Sena MLAs feel Shinde should continue in the post because under his leadership the Mahayuti worked very well and performed spectacularly in polls,” Kesarkar told reporters.
He, however, added that Shinde and Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis (BJP) and Ajit Pawar (NCP) will take a unanimous decision on the CM issue.
“Whatever may be the decision, it will be in the interest of Maharashtra,” said Kesarkar, who won another term from the Sawantwadi constituency, Shiv Sena leader Deepak Kesarkar told reporters on Sunday. (PTI)