Amid intense discussions within the Mahayuti alliance on who should hold the position of Maharashtra’s Chief Minister—Devendra Fadnavis or Eknath Shinde—the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made it clear that the situation in Maharashtra is different from Bihar. They stated that they had no intention of adopting the same formula used in Bihar to decide the CM’s position.
BJP national spokesperson Prem Shukla addressed the confusion, explaining that the arrangement in Bihar, where Nitish Kumar was promised the CM post before the elections, was not applicable to Maharashtra. He explained, “Firstly, the announcement to make Nitish Kumar CM was done before the election. In Maharashtra, there was no such commitment made to Shiv Sena.” He went on to add that the alliance with Janata Dal (United) in Bihar was intended to help BJP gain a foothold in the state, but it did not yield the expected results. Therefore, he emphasized, “there is no question of replicating the same in Maharashtra.”
Prem Shukla further told that the conditions in Maharashtra differ significantly. “In Maharashtra, there is no reason for such a commitment as we have a stronger organisational base and leadership,” he stated. He reiterated that the BJP had never promised to keep Eknath Shinde as CM after the elections. “The decision on the CM would be based on the electoral outcome,” he said.
Raosaheb Danve, a former union minister and BJP’s election coordinator, rejected claims made by some Shiv Sena leaders that Eknath Shinde was promised the CM post prior to the elections. He clarified, “The process of choosing the CM has started. Two parties have already appointed their legislative leaders, and the BJP will pick one soon.”
Reports indicated that the Shiv Sena’s insistence on Shinde becoming the Chief Minister was not well received by BJP’s central leadership. A senior Sena leader mentioned that the BJP had informed Shinde that the CM position would remain with their party, leading to the cancellation of a show of strength planned by the Sena at Varsha on Tuesday morning.
On Tuesday, Eknath Shinde resigned as part of his constitutional duties, but the suspense around the CM’s post continued. He met with Governor CP Radhakrishnan, accompanied by the two deputy chief ministers from the previous government—Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar. The Governor instructed Shinde to remain in a caretaker capacity until a new Chief Minister is sworn in.
The urgency around the resignation arose because the term of the outgoing assembly ended on November 26. In the recent elections, the Mahayuti coalition secured 230 out of 288 seats, with the BJP winning 132 seats. Fadnavis emerged as the leading contender for the CM post, followed by Shinde’s faction of Shiv Sena with 57 seats and Ajit Pawar’s NCP with 41 seats.
Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Shirsat indicated that the decision on the CM’s post would be announced soon, likely by Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, following discussions among Shinde, Fadnavis, and Pawar with top BJP leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. He said, “The three leaders will meet in the evening and take an appropriate decision, which will be communicated to the media later.”
Shirsat added that, since the assembly elections were contested under Shinde’s leadership, many people felt that he should continue as CM. However, he admitted that he was unaware of the BJP leadership’s stance on the matter.
Union Minister Ramdas Athawale, in a statement from New Delhi, expressed his support for Devendra Fadnavis, claiming that the BJP had decided to appoint him as Chief Minister for a third term. However, this has not been officially confirmed by the party. A BJP leader, speaking anonymously, mentioned that the party would not make a final announcement on the CM candidate until discussions about ministerial portfolios were concluded.
