NEW DELHI: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar on Saturday said the next chief minister of Maharashtra will be from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), while two deputy CMs will be from the Shiv Sena and his party.
Pawar shared what transpired at Thursday’s meeting that took place at Union home minister Amit Shah’s house in New Delhi.
“During the meeting (Delhi meeting of Mahayuti leader) it was decided that Mahayuti will form the government with CM from BJP and the remaining two parties will have DCMs… This is not the first time there has been a delay… If you remember, in 1999, one month was taken for government formation,” Ajit Pawar told news agency ANI.
On Thursday, a day after Eknath Shinde said he would accept the BJP leadership’s decision on who should be the next Maharashtra CM, Mahayuti partners got down to working out details of the government, which is to be formed on December 5. Amit Shah met three chiefs of the alliance — Eknath Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis & Ajit Pawar — on Thursday.
The deliberations at Shah’s residence late Thursday night saw outgoing CM Eknath Shinde signing up on the logic that BJP, with 132 MLAs of its own and having lined up another five, was the natural claimant for the CM’s office, sources familiar with the negotiations told TOI.
While Shinde did not spell out whether he would serve as deputy CM along with NCP’s Ajit Pawar, BJP sources remained hopeful of persuading him to be part of a Fadnavis team, with NCP sharing the optimism.
However, Shine’s visit to his native village in Satara raised eyebrows as it reportedly delayed the finalisation of the government formation process.
Speaking on Shinde’s visit, Shirsat said: “Whenever Eknath Shinde thinks that he needs some time to think he goes to his native village.”
“By tomorrow evening, he (Eknath Shinde) will take a big decision. It can be anything, a political decision. The oath-taking ceremony should be held before the 5th December.” “Whenever Eknath Shinde thinks that he needs some time to think he goes to his native village,” he told news agency ANI.
Meanwhile, BJP sources said if Fadnavis, a former CM, could be dy CM, then Shinde too could take up the post, adding it would send out a clear message that it is not just BJP netas who have to compromise.
Swearing-in on December 5
Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekar Bawankule on Saturday said the new Mahayuti government would be sworn in on December 5 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The oath-taking ceremony of the Mahayuti Government in Maharashtra will be held in the presence of Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji on Thursday, December 5, 2024, at 5 PM at Azad Maidan, Mumbai,” state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule stated on X on Saturday evening.
Bawankule’s confirmation of the date comes hours after Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Shirsat hinted that the oath-taking event should take place on or before December 5.
