Amid intense negotiations within the Mahayuti alliance on who would take the post in Maharashtra-Devendra Fadnavis or Eknath Shinde- the Bhartiya Janata Party indicated that there is no question of replicating the Bihar formula for the Chief ministership in the state.
On Tuesday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde resigned in a constitutional obligation, but the suspense over the CM’s post continued.
BJP national Spokesperson Prem Shukla told HT, “Firstly, the announcement to make Nitish Kumar CM was done before election. In Maharashtra, there was no such commitment made to shiv sena Secondly, we formed an alliance with Janata Dal (United) in Bihar so that the BJP could make inroads into the state, which did not happen. Hence there is no question of replicating the same in Maharashtra.”
Prem Shukla told The Indian Express that the model applicable to Bihar does not hold true for Maharashtra. “In Maharashtra, there is no reason for such a commitment as we have a stronger organisational base and leadership. Above all, the party never gave any commitment of continuing with Eknath Shinde as CM after the elections. On the contrary, the top leadership maintained throughout the elections that a decision on the CM would be based on the electoral outcome.”
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Eknath Shinde Resigns
Eknath Shinde, accompanied by Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, the two deputy chief ministers in the previous government, met with Governor CP Radhakrishnan, who asked the Shiv Sena leader to remain in a caretaker capacity until a new chief minister is sworn in.
The urgency of the situation arose because the outgoing assembly’s term ended on Tuesday (November 26) .
CM’s Name to be Announced Today
Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Shirsat indicated that clarity regarding the Chief Minister’s position would emerge
by Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, following discussions among Shinde, Fadnavis, and Pawar with top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah. “The three leaders will meet in the evening and take an appropriate decision, which will be communicated to the media later,” news agency PTI quoted Shirsat as saying.