Amid the discussions regarding Maharashtra’s throne, the answer remains a mystery after 10 days to the results of MahaYuti’s landslide victory.

The front-runner for the post of chief minister, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Devendra Fadnavis met Shiv Sena supremo Eknath Shinde who returned from Satara on Sunday evening.

Shinde, Fadnavis and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar had planned to meet on Friday to huddle over government formation but it was put on hold as Shinde is taking a rest at his Thane residence as per the doctor’s advice.

While Fadnavis and Shinde stayed in Mumbai, Pawar flew to Delhi on Monday to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

However, the suspense over Maha CM is about to end soon with an announcement slated on December 4. The BJP will hold the legislators’ meeting on Wednesday (December 4) to elect its group leader.

The party has deputed former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as observers.

The delays in arriving at a consensus among three partners shocked Shiv Sena as state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Saturday unilaterally announced that the swearing-in ceremony of the new cabinet would take place on December 5 at 5 pm at the Azad Maidan in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Shiv Sena has taken a serious objection against Bawankule’s announcement, citing that the BJP is yet to choose its legislature party group leader and the MahaYuti alliance has not yet staked claim to the formation of government.

BJP legislator Shrikant Bharatiya clarified that there are no differences among the MahaYuti partners saying that the party legislators will soon meet to elect the legislative party group leader.

“Maharashtra’s next chief minister will be from the BJP. The name will be finalised by the party’s central leadership,” he added.

Shinde’s son puts an end to rumours

Meanwhile, Eknath Shinde’s son Shrikant Shinde, a Shiv Sena MP, scoffed at media reports about him becoming the deputy chief minister. He clarified that he had no desire for any position in the government.

“Even after the Lok Sabha elections, I had the opportunity to take up a ministerial position in the Central government. However, considering the work for the party organisation, I declined that offer. I have no desire for any post in the government. I am not a part of any race in the state government and I would like to clarify this once again that I will continue to work diligently for my Lok Sabha constituency and the Shiv Sena party,” Shrikant Shinde said.

In the recently concluded assembly polls, the MahaYuti won 230 of the 288 assembly seats. The BJP led with 132 seats, while the Shiv Sena got 57 and NCP 41 seats.

(With inputs from syndicated feed)

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