Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde continued to torment the BJP on Saturday by remaining holed up in his native village and fielding a party MLA to officially demand the home portfolio and allege efforts to sideline the outgoing chief minister.

The BJP tried to put the pressure back on Shinde in the evening, announcing the new government would be sworn in on December 5.

Shinde, under pressure from the BJP to hand over the chief minister’s chair and accept the position of deputy chief minister, had suddenly left Mumbai for his western Maharashtra village on Friday, aborting a key meeting on government formation.

He was expected to return on Saturday but did not, with reports saying he had met a leader from the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP, which is part of the Opposition bloc.

“The home department should be with the Shiv Sena. The department is (usually) with the deputy chief minister and it would not be right if the (likely BJP) chief minister heads the home department,” Sanjay Shirsat, MLA and spokesperson for Shinde’s Shiv Sena, told reporters in Sambhaji Nagar, previously Aurangabad.

Devendra Fadnavis, the BJP’s likely pick for chief minister, holds the home department as deputy chief minister in the outgoing Shinde government.

Buoyed by its huge mandate, the BJP is bent on reclaiming the chief minister’s post from Shinde as well as keeping the two key portfolios of home and finance — the latter now held by ally Ajit Pawar of the NCP.

“We can consider giving up the finance ministry but there’s no question of letting go of the home ministry after this kind of mandate,” a BJP leader said. The home portfolio offers control over the police and other investigative agencies.

Amid the battle of nerves, state BJP president Chandrasekhar Bawankule said in a post on X: “Oath-taking ceremony of the Maha-Yuti government in Maharashtra: it will be held in the presence of the pride of the world, Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji on Thursday, December 5, 2024, at 5 PM at Azad Maidan, Mumbai.”

Earlier, Shirsat had alleged that “efforts are being made to sideline our leader (Shinde)” but did not blame anyone in particular.

He said Shinde would remain in Maharashtra and not move to Delhi. The BJP is learnt to have offered a Union cabinet berth to Shinde if he is unwilling to be a deputy chief minister.

Shinde has stayed mum since Friday, refusing to talk to reporters after reaching his village Dare in Satara district, claiming exhaustion and throat pain.

On Saturday, Sena leaders made conflicting claims about why Shinde was still in his village. “He is not upset but is unwell. He has a throat infection and has gone to his village to rest,” Sena politician Uday Samant told reporters in Mumbai.

Shirsat, however, hinted that Shinde had gone to his village to prepare for “a big decision”.

“Whenever Eknath Shinde feels he has to take a big decision, he goes to his native village, Dare. It is his favourite place,” Shirsat told reporters.

He claimed Shinde would return on Sunday and might make a “big announcement”. Shirsat had made a similar claim on Friday evening too.

Another Sena source said Shinde’s throat infection was severe and he might return only on Monday.

Reports said Shinde had performed a puja at a temple near his village on Saturday and met a key leader from Sharad Pawar’s NCP.

The BJP has chosen silence since Shinde’s vanishing act, with party leaders claiming they were in “wait and watch” mode since the Sena had limited options given the nature of the poll verdict.

The BJP, with 132 seats in the 288-member Assembly, can even form the government without the Sena. Party managers, however, said they would not exercise that option since they didn’t want to fracture the Mahayuti.

No clarity has emerged yet over the possible shape of the new government a week after the poll results and two days since Union home minister Amit Shah chaired a marathon meeting with Mahayuti leaders in Delhi on Thursday.

At the Delhi meeting, Shinde was urged to take up the deputy chief minister’s post along with Ajit, sources had said. Shinde, initially reluctant to accept the demotion, is believed to have later indicated that he might accept the offer if given the home portfolio.

The BJP has refrained from making any announcement so far about holding a meeting of its newly elected MLAs to choose the legislature party leader.

Fadnavis is considered the frontrunner but the suspense will continue until the meeting is held. BJP sources said they were waiting for Shinde to tire and give up.