Devendra Fadnavis to be Maharashtra chief minister, consensus reached at BJP meeting

Devendra Fadnavis is expected to take oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister tomorrow at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan, beginning his third term in the top post. The BJP leadership today finalized Mr. Fadnavis as its choice for the chief minister’s post, potentially ending the long-running suspense over who would get the top post. Soon after, his name was submitted to the newly elected legislators and their approval finalized his selection.

The developments come as Azad Maidan prepares in Mumbai for the grand oath-taking ceremony, two weeks after the BJP-led Mahayuti Party’s mammoth victory in the state elections. Mr. Fadnavis will today call on Governor CP Radhakrishnan to formally claim the formation of the government.

The selection of Mr. Fadnavis by the BJP central committee ends the 11-day suspense in Maharashtra over who will get the chief minister’s post. Following the poll result, in which Mahayuti won 230 of the 288 Assembly seats, Shiv Sena leaders stressed that Mr. Shinde was leading the alliance in the polls and should remain chief minister. The BJP, however, made it clear that it would claim the top post this time, having won 132 of the 148 seats it contested. Finally, Mr. Shinde publicly declared that he would not be a hindrance in forming the government and would accept any decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah as Chief Minister .

Mr. Shinde did not have much leverage to push for tough negotiations since the BJP now needs only one of its allies to achieve majority in the Assembly and the NCP has reportedly pledged its support. But despite the Sena chief’s public statement confirming his position at the top post, party leaders continued to show posturing, with statements emphasizing that Mr Shinde’s contribution to Mahayuti’s victory should not be neglected.