The Mahayuti alliance is yet to appoint a Chief Minister for Maharashtra
New Delhi/Mumbai:
The three top leaders of the Mahayuti alliance will meet Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah tomorrow in Delhi to decide on who will be the next chief minister of Maharashtra.
BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis, NCP’s Ajit Pawar and Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde are in the race.
Before the Maharashtra assembly election, the BJP and the Shiv Sena in a series of meetings agreed that Mr Shinde would continue to be the chief minister irrespective of the number of seats won by each member of the Mahayuti alliance if they win the election, people with direct knowledge of the matter said today.
The BJP contested the maximum number of seats in the election which the Mahayuti alliance swept in a historic feat, taking 235 of the 288 assembly seats, with the BJP alone winning 132 seats.
Supporters of the three leaders have claimed their own leaders as the perfect candidate to take the top post in Maharashtra.
Union Minister Ramdas Athawale of the Republican Party of India (Athawale), an ally of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), has backed Mr Fadnavis to head the state alliance as the next Chief Minister. Mr Athawale has cited the BJP winning the highest number of seats to justify his stand.
“When Eknath Shinde came to know that the BJP high command finalised Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister, he (Mr Shinde) was a bit unhappy, which I can understand. But BJP got 132 seats and so I think they have to make way… Devendra Fadnavis should be made chief minister. Shinde can be made Union Minister,” Mr Athawale said on Tuesday.
