The next Chief Minister of Maharashtra will be from the Bharatiya Janata Party, and s/he will be backed by two deputies drawn, most likely, from Eknath Shinde‘s Shiv Sena faction, and that of Ajit Pawar‘s Nationalist Congress Party, sources told NDTV Wednesday evening.
The arrangement mirrors the deal three had leading up to this election, except the BJP has the upper hand now – after a dominant victory last week. The saffron party thumped the Maha Vikas Aghadi, the rival alliance of the Congress and the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions of the Sena and NCP, winning 132 (of 288) Assembly seats on its own and 235 with its allies.
While the new Chief Minister has not yet been named, the smart money appears to be on the BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis, who held the post between 2014 and 2019, and for few days again in November, following the 2019 Assembly election, after Ajit Pawar’s first attempted rebellion.
Under the earlier deal, Mr Shinde was the Chief Minister and Mr Fadnavis – a former Chief Minister who senior BJP leaders had to persuade to accept the post – and Mr Pawar his deputies.
An ocean of speculation and suggestion has surrounded the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance since it became apparent Saturday mid-morning, as votes were being counted, that they would win.
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Once victory was confirmed both Mr Shinde and Mr Fadnavis played down talk of a race for the Chief Minister’s post – one that threatened to uncover potential cracks in their alliance, particularly as it became clear the BJP, as in 2022, would need an ally to form the government.
“There will be no dispute… it was decided from day one that, after the election, the leaders of the three parties will sit together and decide,” Mr Fadnavis told reporters, while Mr Shinde said, “… we fought the election together (and) all three parties will sit together and take this decision.”
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Neither statement, however, put the matter to rest, with speculation persisting BJP and Shinde Sena lawmakers were each lobbying for their leader to be given the top post.
But, hours before the news the 1 Chief Minister + 2 deputies formula would be replicated, Mr Shinde seemed to put that speculation to rest. He told reporters he would not be an “obstacle” if Prime Minister Narendra Modi were to choose someone else to become Chief Minister.
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“I told PM Modi I will not be an obstacle. We will go with whatever he decides,” Mr Shinde told reporters today, underscoring that “no one is upset” and that he is “not greedy for any position”.
All three leaders – Devendra Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde, and Ajit Pawar – are scheduled to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah tomorrow (Thursday), the outgoing Chief Minister said.
There was a potential hiccup to this plan earlier today after some members of Eknath Shinde’s group claimed the BJP had ‘promised’ their party the Chief Minister’s post.
The claim was a throwback to the turmoil after the 2019 election, for which the BJP and Shiv Sena (then undivided) were allies. They won the election but broke up after Uddhav Thackeray claimed the BJP was reneging on a deal to share the Chief Minister’s post.
READ | E Shinde Now Where Uddhav Was In ’19, With Big Difference
Mr Thackeray then led the Sena to ally with the Congress and (then also undivided) NCP and became Chief Minster. Maharashtra politics has been roiled since, with the Sena torn apart in 2022 and the NCP in 2023, resulting in those factions allying with the BJP and ousting Mr Thackeray.
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