Mumbai, Dec 1: The name of Devendra Fadnavis has been finalised as the new chief minister of Maharashtra who will be elected as the legislature party leader in a meeting to be held either on December 2 or 3, a senior BJP leader said on Sunday night.
Earlier in the day, outgoing Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said he would support the BJP’s decision to pick the new chief minister.
“The name of Devendra Fadnavis has been finalised as the new chief minister of Maharashtra. The meeting to elect the new BJP legislature party meeting will be held on either December 2 or 3,” a senior BJP leader told PTI.
Amid speculation that his son Shrikant Shinde might get the deputy CM’s post and Shiv Sena is keen on the Home portfolio, Eknath Shinde said the Mahayuti allies- BJP, NCP, and Shiv Sena- will decide the government formation through consensus after sitting together. More than a week after the Mahayuti clinched a massive victory in Maharashtra polls with the BJP emerging as the single largest party with 132 seats, the new government is yet to be sworn in.
The oath-taking ceremony of the new Mahayuti government is scheduled for December 5 evening at the Azad Maidan in south Mumbai and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend it.
The BJP is moving cautiously as aspirations of its allies, especially Shiv Sena, grew after the massive poll victory. Despite Shinde’s insistence on Mahayuti unity, some leaders of allies spoke in different voices.
Former Union minister and BJP leader Raosaheb Danve said if the undivided Sena and BJP had contested the elections together, they would have won more seats. Separately, Shiv Sena MLA Gulabrao Patil claimed that the Eknath Shinde-led party would have won 90-100 seats in polls had Ajit Pawar’s NCP not been part of the alliance, drawing a sharp reaction from the Ajit Pawar-led party. The BJP legislature party meeting to elect the leader, who will be the party’s chief ministerial pick, is yet to be held even though Shiv Sena and NCP have elected Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar as their legislature party leaders, respectively. A senior Mahayuti leader said the allies will jointly decide whether only the chief minister and deputy CMs will take oath on December 5 or ministers will also be sworn in. Shinde had left for his native village in Satara district on Friday amid speculation that he was not happy with the way the new government was shaping up. He developed a high fever in his village.
Talking to reporters in his village on Sunday before leaving for Mumbai, Shinde said, “I have already said the decision on CM’s post taken by the BJP leadership will be acceptable to me and Shiv Sena and will have my full backing”. On speculation that Shrikant Shinde will be made a Deputy CM in the new government and whether Shiv Sena has staked the claim for the home portfolio, Shinde replied, “Talks were on”. (PTI)
