Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis contacted Shiv Sena chief and ally Eknath Shinde at his official home in Varsha on Tuesday evening, indicating that preparations were complete for the oath-taking ceremony of Maharashtra’s new chief minister and two deputy chief ministers on Thursday at Azad Maidan in Mumbai.
“Fadnavis will take oath as Chief Minister along with Shinde and (NCP leader) Ajit Pawar as Deputy Chief Ministers in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the grand event,” a senior BJP leader said.
The meeting between Fadnavis and Shinde lasted for around 30 minutes. A Shiv Sena leader said, “A basic discussion on the swearing-in took place between the two leaders. Details regarding distribution of portfolios and Cabinet composition formula would be decided in another meeting tomorrow.” The two leaders met for the first time after returning from Delhi last Thursday, where they met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah for talks along with Ajit Pawar.
According to sources, Fadnavis, Shinde, and Ajit Pawar will meet with the governor in Raj Bhawan shortly after the newly elected BJP MLAs select their legislative party leader on Wednesday and make their bids to form the government.
The two main observers for the BJP legislative party conference, Union Finance Minister and former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, arrived in Mumbai late Tuesday night. On Wednesday, they are probably going to meet Shinde as well.
According to a Shiv Sena source, the BJP leadership has been negotiating with Shinde in an attempt to persuade him to take the position of Deputy Chief Minister.
The BJP sent its agent Girish Mahajan to visit Shinde twice in the past 24 hours, first in Thane on Monday night and then in Varsha on Tuesday, ahead of the Fadnavis’ attempts to contact him. Fadnavis’s trip to Varsha to resume the discussion on cabinet composition and government formation came next.
A joint assessment of the location earlier in the day was the first sign that the leaders of the three Mahayuti allies would participate in the oath-taking ceremony. Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Praveen Darekar of the BJP, Sanjay Shirsat and Gulabrao Patil of the Shiv Sena, and Hasan Mushriff and Dhananjay Munde of the NCP made up the inspection team.
The Maharashtra government formation process has been at a standstill for the last four to five days due to the Shiv Sena’s insistence on the Home portfolio and the BJP’s consideration of the demand’s advantages and disadvantages. According to sources, the oath-taking will proceed according to schedule, however throughout the next few days, problems pertaining to portfolios will be fixed.
Shinde went to his hometown hamlet in the Satara district shortly after returning from Delhi, where he stationed himself for two days while claiming to be ill. On Monday, he arrived at his Thane residence. Prior to arriving at his official house in Mumbai on Tuesday, Shinde went to Jupiter Hospital in Thane for a check-up. Later, on December 6, he presided over a conference to manage planning for a celebration of Dr. B R Ambedkar’s death anniversary at Chaityabhoomi in Shivaji Park. Fadnavis participated online in the meeting.
Although both BJP and Shiv Sena leaders maintained that there was no hurdle in government formation, an insider said, “The Home portfolio remains the sticking point.”
A senior BJP leader said, “To ensure effective administration in a state like Maharashtra, Home Ministry should remain with the BJP at any cost.”
State BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule underplayed the differences, saying, “The BJP along with alliance partners will form the government. It is going to be the Mahayuti government.”
Shiv Sena spokesperson Kiran Pawaskar said, “All these talks of Shindeji being upset are baseless. Mahayuti leaders will have one more meeting tomorrow to decide on Cabinet representation along with portfolios.”
With 132 seats—13 less than a majority on its own—the BJP was the single largest party in the Assembly election. The NCP and Shiv Sena, two allies, took home 41 and 57 seats, respectively.
