Devendra Fadnavis, the BJP frontrunner for the Maharashtra chief minister’s post, met Eknath Shinde in Mumbai on Tuesday, hours after the sulking Shiv Sena chief was briefly hospitalised in what was seen as a last-minute bargain to secure key portfolios.

Shinde’s deputy in the outgoing government, Fadnavis drove to Varsha — the official residence of the chief minister in south Mumbai — for a closed-door meeting ahead of the swearing-in of the new government on Thursday.

BJP insiders said Fadnavis’s outreach, the first since Shinde made his annoyance known with his disappearing acts, was aimed at getting him on board.

“Fadnavis appears set to be elected as the BJP’s legislative party leader on Wednesday and after that he will formally stake claim to form the government. His meeting with Shinde was to ensure that the Sena chief joins him when he goes to meet the governor to stake claim,” a BJP leader said.

A BJP legislature party meeting is scheduled for Wednesday morning in
Mumbai.

Fadnavis’s visit came hours after Shinde was rushed to a hospital in Thane on Tuesday morning. Shinde emerged from the hospital after some time, claiming it was a routine health check-up and he was “fine”. He later drove to the chief minister’s official residence to oversee preparations for the swearing-in.

The two Mahayuti allies — Shinde’s Sena and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP — have been engaged in a last-minute bargain as the BJP appears determined to dominate the new government by keeping the key portfolios.

Even before the evening meeting in Mumbai, BJP managers in Delhi had claimed “Shinde had fallen in line” and that his party would “happily” join the new BJP-led Mahayuti government. “Shinde has been demanding the home portfolio but our leadership has told him that it is unacceptable. An agreement has been reached. He (Shinde) will be adequately compensated,” a BJP leader said.

As Shinde returned home in Mumbai, Ajit waited in Delhi to meet home minister Amit Shah to finalise his party’s share. Ajit had reached Delhi on Monday but had not been able to get an appointment with Shah till Tuesday afternoon. The NCP leader has been demanding the finance portfolio, which he holds in the outgoing government.

Amid the power tussle, preparations were on in full swing at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan for the swearing-in with no final word on the chief minister.

In a show of unity in the Mahayuti, BJP state president Chandrasekhar Bawankule went to inspect the preparations along with leaders of the Shiv Sena and the NCP. “Leaders of all three parties are working together for the government formation. Alliance partners Shiv Sena and NCP are equally involved,” Bawankule told reporters.

“There are no differences. The Mahayuti is united,” Shinde Sena MLA and spokesperson Sanjay Shirsat, accompanying the state BJP chief, said.