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Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske has said the Shinde camp is open to accepting Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra’s chief minister if decided by the Mahayuti alliance.
Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde (Photo: PTI)
Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske has said his camp would accept Devendra Fadnavis as the chief minister of Maharashtra if the same is decided by Mahayuti. He also claimed Eknath Shinde was not upset over the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s choice for Fadnavis.
“We are not Uddhav Thackeray who will go away if we are not given the chief minister post,” Mhaske said on Wednesday.
“We will accept the decision that is taken by Mahayuti and will accept Devendra Fadnavis as our leader of so decided,” he said, adding, “Eknath Shinde is not upset.”
Mhaske’s remarks were in reference to the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections, when the BJP and Shiv Sena, then united under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), had secured a comprehensive victory to retain power in the state winning 161 seats after a five-year term under Devendra Fadnavis.
However, Uddhav’s Shiv Sena, which had won only 56 seats compared to the BJP’s 105, claimed that the then BJP chief Amit Shah had agreed on rotational chief ministership for the two parties.
Later, Shah denied all such claims and said no such agreement was ever made.
As the rift over the issue widened, Shiv Sena severed its ties with the BJP and formed a post-poll alliance with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress under the Maha Vikas Aghadi (present MVA) and was later made the Chief Minister of the state.
MAHARASHTRA GOVERNMENT FORMATION
Eknath Shinde resigned as the chief minister of Maharashtra on Tuesday, paving the way for the appointment of a new government.
Accompanied by Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, Shinde met Governor CP Radhakrishnan earlier in the day to officially submit his resignation.
Following this, the Governor requested Shinde to continue in a caretaker role until the new Chief Minister is sworn in. The outgoing assembly’s term concluded on Tuesday, adding urgency to the transition process.
On Wednesday, sources told CNN-News18 that Eknath Shinde has demanded the Home Ministry department, if not made the chief minister of the state.
The former chief minister would address a press conference later today.
MAHARASHTRA ASSEMBLY ELECTION 2024
The ruling Mahayuti coalition secured a commanding 230 out of 288 seats in the recently concluded Maharashtra assembly elections, the results of which were declared on November 23.
The BJP on its own walked away with 132 seats followed by the Shiv Sena Shinde faction with 57 and Ajit Pawar-led NCP with 41 seats.
However, despite the coalition’s electoral victory, the Mahayuti alliance is grappling with disagreements regarding the next chief minister.
