Bharatiya Janata Party workers chanted the name of senior leader Devendra Fadnavis when Maharashtra party unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule asked who they wanted to see as the next chief minister of the state.
Bawankule was on Monday addressing the party workers in Bhandara, located about 800 km from here.
When he asked who should take oath as the next CM at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, the party workers said, ‘’Devendra Fadnavis…Devendra Fadnavis.’’ In reply to the chants, Bawankule said, ‘’Party workers must work hard to realise this dream.’’ The rebellion by Eknath Shinde in June last year brought down the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) following which a government led by Shinde was formed with BJP leader Fadnavis as the deputy CM.
Fadnavis was the state’s chief minister between 2014 and 2019.
While campaigning for the 2019 assembly polls, Fadnavis had remarked ‘’I will be back.’’ After the 2019 state elections, the alliance between the BJP and the Shiv Sena broke over the issue of sharing the CM’s post, following which Uddhav Thackeray joined hands with the NCP and Congress to form the MVA government led by him.
Notably, a number of BJP leaders, including Fadnavis, have said CM Eknath Shinde will lead the ruling alliance in the 2024 Lok Sabha and assembly polls in the state.
The ruling alliance comprises the BJP, the Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party.