Maharashtra Suspense: E Shinde Resigns Amid BJP Push For Devendra Fadnavis

Mumbai: 

The suspense over who will become Maharashtra Chief Minister after the Mahayuti’s mammoth victory in the state polls has entered its third day. The tenure of the 14th state Assembly ends today and incumbent Eknath Shinde has resigned as Chief Minister. But the BJP-led alliance is yet to take a final call on who will get the top post.

BJP leaders want former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to become the Chief Minister, while Shiv Sena MLAs are rooting for Mr Shinde to continue. The Ajit Pawar-led NCP, it is learnt, has decided to back Mr Fadnavis. The BJP has 132 MLAs, the Sena has 57 and the NCP 41. This means that the BJP needs only one of its two allies to reach the magic figure of 145 in the 288-member Assembly. This leaves Mr Shinde with few bargaining chips for the Chief Minister post.

As the BJP leadership brainstorms on who will get the big post, a group of Sena leaders had planned to gather outside the Chief Minister’s official bungalow, Varsha, apparently as a show of strength for Eknath Shinde. But the Sena chief intervened and asked them not to. “After the great victory of the Mahayuti alliance, our government will be formed once again in the state. As a grand alliance, we contested the election together and are still together today,” he said