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Maharashtra CM likely to take oath next week: BJP has appointed observers, including union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who will reach Mumbai on November 28 or 29, for Friday’s meeting of MLA-elects. BJP has denied any tussle, saying the name will be announced this week
The BJP is yet to respond to Eknath Shinde’s proposal, sources said. (PTI File)
Amid the tussle over the Maharashtra chief minister’s post, Eknath Shinde, if not the CM, wants to be made the convener of the Mahayuti government as the election was fought under his leadership and has sought the deputy chief minister’s post for his Kalyan MP son, Shrikant, under the probable leadership of Devendra Fadnavis, according to a report in the New Indian Express.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had offered Shinde either a position as a cabinet minister in the Union government or the role of deputy chief minister. The report, however, said that Shinde had turned down both. The BJP is yet to respond to his proposal, it said.
News18 has reported how the BJP has appointed central observers, including union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Bhupender Yadav, who will reach Mumbai on November 28 or 29, indicating their firm stance on a CM from the party. The BJP will hold a meeting of MLA-elects on Friday. The observers will have a discussion with the alliance partners. The new government is likely to be formed next week, with the name of the CM likely to be announced this week. The BJP sources denied any tussle, saying the issue is being played out in the media.
BJP’s Sudhir Mungantiwar said the new government formation will happen next week, but oath-taking of the cabinet will happen in January 2025. While Shinde has called for a press meet at 3pm, Fadnavis said, “There will soon be an answer to the question on the CM post. The senior leaders are discussing. The decision will be taken by the leaders of the three parties…If they decide the CM post for me, I will take over that duty. Once, the decision for the CM post is made, we will decide on other ministerial posts keeping in mind the wishes of the alliance members.”
On Wednesday, Fadnavis is likely to go to Sambhajinagar for a private function and attend an event in Nagpur.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Mahayuti won 235 seats in the 288-member house. The BJP won 132 seats, followed by Shinde Shiv Sena’s 57 and NCP Ajit Pawar’s 41. Smaller parties, who are part of the alliance, won five seats. While alliance partner Ajit Pawar, who heads a faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), has already agreed upon Fadnavis’s name, another ally RPI’s Ramdas Athawale, too, on Tuesday, said that it was now Shinde’s turn to take “two steps back”.
Shinde on Tuesday resigned as the CM, but will continue as the caretaker CM till the government is formed.
WE ARE NOT UDDHAV THACKERAY, WILL ACCEPT FADNAVIS AS CM: SHINDE SENA
The Shinde camp, which has been citing the example of Haryana and even Bihar to push for Shinde as the CM, stating the polls were fought under his leadership, changed its tune on Wednesday.
“The BJP contested the election in Haryana under the leadership of their chief minister Nayab Singh Saini…and he was made the CM post the election win. Similarly, the Mahayuti contested the Maharashtra elections under the leadership of CM Eknath Shinde and he should become the CM again,” Naresh Mahaske, Shinde Sena MP and a close aide of Shinde, had told News18 on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, however, the Shinde Sena leader said, “We are not Uddhav Thackeray that we will go away if we are not given the CM post. We will accept the decision that is taken by the Mahayuti and will accept Fadnavis as our leader, if that is the decision. Shinde is not upset.”
“In this massive victory, the BJP was one of the major beneficiaries, winning 132 seats out of a total of 150 contested. Shiv Sena contested 79 seats and won 57, while NCP won 41 seats. BJP cannot deny the contribution of Eknath Shinde to this victory. The Lok Sabha election was fought under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the outcome was that Mahayuti won only 17 seats, while the Maha Vikas Aghadi secured 31 seats. Therefore, Shinde should be given another chance to become the Chief Minister of Maharashtra,” Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam had said.
Kadam had also blamed the Ajit Pawar-led NCP for extending their support to Fadnavis, claiming that the NCP reduced their bargaining power by supporting BJP without proper consultations.
Meanwhile, in an X post, Shinde Sena leader Manisha Kayande wrote “Ek’Nath’ hain to safe hain”. Kayande later told News18: “Shiv Sainiks have given the slogan of ‘Eknath hain to safe hain’ because they want Eknath Shinde to be the CM. Serious talks between both the leaders have not started yet. It has only been three days since the election results, so one can wait for government formation.”
With Inputs from Aman Sharma and Yesha Kotak
