Eknath Shinde will be the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra, reports ndtv.com.
- Only Eknath Shinde to take oath today, BJP's Devendra Fadnavis says he won't be a part of the Maharashtra government, reports ndtv.com
- Oath-taking ceremony at 7.30 PM
- Fadnavis, Eknath meet Governor to stake claim, reports indiatoday.in
Earlier in the day, Shinde chaired a meeting of "his MLAs" in Goa after which he left for Mumbai. He is already making moves to claim full authority over the Shiv Sena and is understood to have asked all Shiv Sena MLAs to be present in Goa today.
Uddhav Thackeray quit as Maharashtra Chief Minister on Wednesday night shortly after the Supreme Court ruled that he must prove his majority.
The Shiv Sena chief was left with only 13 MLAs after the revolt that played out in three BJP-ruled states - Gujarat, Assam and Maharashtra.
Deepak Kesarkar, the spokesperson for the Sena rebels, stressed that it was ideology, and not expectations of big cabinet portfolios that led them to break with the Thackerays.
He also conceded that negotiations were already on with the BJP to form a government in Maharashtra.
Kesarkar said the rebels did not "betray" Thackeray and still have love and respect for him. "Nobody in Shiv Sena is against the Thackeray family," he claimed at a press conference in Goa.
"All speculation of portfolios are baseless. No decision has been taken on that yet," Kesarkar said.
He asserted that the rebel faction was the Shiv Sena now, since Uddhav Thackeray was in a minority in the party. "It's not a question of who is the real Shiv Sena. We have the legal majority and thus ours is the legislature party," he said.
Despite evidence of its protection and facilitation of the rebels, the BJP has publicly denied any role in the Shiv Sena coup.
Fadnavis held two meetings with the leadership during the crisis. A third meeting saw Eknath Shinde being flown from Guwahati to Vadodara for discussions with Fadnavis and home minister Amit Shah, the BJP's chief strategist.
