Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde on Wednesday caved in to offer “full support to a BJP CM”, clearing the decks for the coronation of RSS favourite Devendra Fadnavis who has emerged as the front runner for the Maharashtra chief minister’s post.
The BJP gets the chief ministership of Maharashtra, but given their past record, the possibility of the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah establishment springing a surprise on the candidate cannot be ruled out.
The new chief minister’s swearing-in is likely to be held early next week after the inauspicious “amawasya” gets over, BJP leaders said.
The three leaders of the Mahayuti alliance — Devendra Fadnavis (BJP), Eknath Shinde (Shiv Sena) and Ajit Pawar (NCP) — have been called to Delhi on Thursday for a meeting with home minister Amit Shah to finalise the ministerial portfolios.
Shinde, the caretaker chief minister, capitulated after initially resisting the BJP’s bid to take away the top post from him with the numbers in the new Assembly tilted heavily in favour of the BJP.
“I called Prime Minister Narendra Modiji yesterday (Tuesday) and assured him that I won’t be a hurdle in the Maharashtra government formation. Whatever decision he takes we will wholeheartedly support it,” Shinde told reporters at his residence in Thane.
“I gave a similar assurance to Amit Shahji,” he added, breaking his silence four days after the ruling Mahayuti won a landslide victory and appearing to surrender before the BJP’s top two.
Speaking in Hindi, he came out more clearly to endorse the BJP’s claim to the top Maharashtra post. “We will give our full support to a BJP CM,” Shinde said, stressing that he had “no lust for the CM’s post”. Shinde termed the unprecedented poll performace a “people’s victory”.
Shinde was learnt to have dug in his heels, claiming that he should be allowed to continue as chief minister for a second term as the welfare schemes of his government had steered the Mahayuti to victory.
The BJP leadership, however, put its foot down, pointing out that with a whopping 132 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, they rightfully deserved the chief minister’s post in the Mahayuti. The Shinde Sena in comparison has 57 seats and Ajit Pawar’s NCP 41. Ajit has backed a BJP chief minister.
Sena insiders, however, claimed that through his resistance, Shinde had secured a good bargain in terms of plum portfolios for his party in the BJP-led alliance government. Shinde had sealed his lips since the results on Saturday and was negotiating with the BJP leadership.
He came out smiling on Wednesday, indicating he was happy with whatever he had been promised. Sena leaders claimed that they would get around 12 ministerial berths in the new government.
“I never considered myself as chief minister. For me, the CM is a common man…. I am not one who cries. I fight and I will work for the people of Maharashtra till my last breath,” he said, thanking Modi and Shah for extending full support to him during his tenure as chief minister for two-and-a-half years.
The BJP has proposed that the new government headed by a chief minister from the party would have Shinde and Ajit as two deputy chief ministers. At the media address on Wednesday, Shinde, however, did not clarify if he was ready to play Fadnavis’s deputy.
“All three of us will go to Delhi tomorrow. Further discussions will be held there on the formation of the government with a chief minister and two deputy chief ministers,” Ajit told reporters in Pune.
Fadnavis, who had been projected as the BJP’s face in the Maharashtra polls, was scheduled to reach Delhi ahead of the two alliance leaders on Wednesday evening to hold separate talks with the party high command.
The Brahmin leader from Nagpur is seen as a favourite of the RSS. The Sangh has been pushing for him for the top job despite resistance from some quarters in the BJP who feel that in a Maratha caste-dominated state his leadership could be counterproductive.
Fadnavis was first made the chief minister of Maharashtra in 2014. In 2019, the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance was voted to power but the Sena broke away and aligned with the Opposition Congress-NCP camp to deny Fadnavis a second stint.
In 2022, Fadnavis was said to have played a key role in splitting the Shiv Sena led by Shinde to bring the BJP to power again. Fadnavis, however, was again denied the top post as the BJP high command rewarded Shinde with the chief minister’s post and asked Fadnavis to be his deputy.
Despite Fadnavis looking all set to return at the helm, sections in the BJP did not rule out the possibility of another unexpected tur of events given the penchant of the party’s top leadership to spring surprises.
“We have learnt not to get surprised by the surprise,” a key BJP leader from Maharashtra said when asked if there was a possibility of someone other than Fadnavis being picked for the top post.
