Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde resurfaced on Sunday and said the next chief minister of Maharashtra would be decided by the BJP at its legislature party meeting on Monday and claimed “unconditional support” to any decision taken by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.
He, however, skipped comment on his party’s demand that it be given the home portfolio.
“The government will be formed. It will be formed very well. There is full coordination among the Mahayuti partners,” Shinde told reporters after two days of silence during which he was holed up in his native village, Dare in Satara district, after meeting Shah in New Delhi on Thursday night along with allies Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP and Ajit Pawar, who heads his faction of the NCP.
Before starting off for Mumbai, Shinde was asked by reporters about the announcement of the swearing-in date (December 5) of the new government without deciding on the chief minister. The outgoing chief minister replied: “Tomorrow the BJP legislature party will meet. It will be decided, why are you concerned?”
There was no official announcement from the BJP about the meeting but party leaders privately said all the newly elected MLAs had been asked to reach Mumbai by Monday and the meeting was likely on Tuesday. Fadnavis, the party’s Maharashtra face, is the front-runner for the chief minister’s post.
“The people of Maharashtra already know who their CM will be,” senior BJP leader Raosaheb Danve told reporters, hinting at Fadnavis.
Shinde, who had dashed to his village on Friday morning leaving the BJP worried, denied he was upset. He said he was unwell and had come to his village to rest.
“I am doing well now…. I had come to my village to take rest after the hectic election campaign. I have already given my unconditional support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah and I will support their decision and so there should be no confusion,” he told reporters.
Shinde, who is under pressure from the BJP to give up the chief minister’s post and agree to be deputy chief minister in the new government, sidestepped questions on his party’s demand for the home portfolio.
While Shinde was in Dare village on Saturday, his party MLA and spokesperson Sanjay Shirsat raised the demand for the home portfolio. “The home department should be with the Shiv Sena,” Shirsat said.
Sources close to Shinde claimed he would make his annoyance known by declining the deputy chief minister’s post in the BJP-led government if he was not given the home portfolio. “The party could appoint some other leader as the deputy CM,” a Sena leader said.
“In a coalition government, pulls and pressure for portfolios is bound to happen. The portfolio distribution talks will continue even after the swearing in on Thursday,” a BJP leader said.
MVA attack
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray has slammed the Mahayuti for the delay in government formation and termed it an “insult” to Maharashtra.
“To not be able to decide on a chief minister and form the government for more than a week after result day is not just an insult to Maharashtra (for taking our state so lightly) but also to the assistance provided by their dearest Election Commission,” Thackeray posted on X.
