New Delhi: As the suspense remains over the name of next Maharashtra Chief Minister, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is said to be firm on the name of Devendra Fadnavis, and are unwilling to play the role of junior partner in the alliance again despite getting more seats.
Party sources say that former CM Eknath Shinde has been informed about BJP Central command’s decision to go ahead of Fadnavis’s name for the job, and Shinde has been reportedly offered the role of Deputy Chief Minister in an exchange of roles this time. Shinde has been also given the option to shift to Delhi and take the job of minister in the Union Cabinet.
What are options before Eknath Shinde?
Shinde has very few options as Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar has already expressed his support for Devendra Fadnavis for the CM post. During a meeting with the newly-elected party legislators at his residence earlier this week, Pawar had supported Fadnavis’s name for the CM post.
In the recently-concluded Maharashtra Assembly polls, the Mahayuti alliance won 232 of the 288 assembly seats, with the BJP alone winning 132 seats. Eknath Shind’s Sena won 57 seats, while Pawar’s NCP bagged 41 seats.
Why Shiv Sena leaders want Bihar formula in Maharashtra too?
A faction in Shive Sena is vocal about their demand that since the assembly elections were contested under Shinde’s leadership, there is a general feeling among the people that he should continue as the chief minister. Party leaders say that BJP should go ahead with Bihar formula where despite winning more Assembly seats, the saffron party decided to go ahead with Nitish Kumar as the alliance leader as the Assembly polls were contested under his leadership.
Ramdas Athawale backs Fadnavis as Maharashtra CM
RPI(A) leader Ramdas Athawale, a key BJP ally, has urged for a quick decision on the next CM of Maharashtra and said that incumbent Eknath Shinde should shift to the Centre as a Union minister.
Athawale also backed senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis as the next chief minister of Maharashtra, contending that the saffron party won the maximum number of seats in the 288-member Assembly and should have the right to the top executive post in the state.
