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Mumbai: According to indications received in Maharashtra till this evening, Eknath Shinde has given up his insistence on not accepting the post of Deputy Chief Minister in the new grand alliance government. It is being told that he has accepted to become Deputy Chief Minister as per BJP’s offer. According to political speculations, if everything goes well and there are no last-minute surprises, Devendra Fadnavis will be declared the Chief Minister in the BJP Legislature meeting tomorrow and Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar will join his government as Deputy Chief Ministers.
Shinde left for Risaman today to attend government meetings. There was also a face to face meeting between him and Devendra Fadnavis late tonight. These two leaders met today for the first time in a long time to discuss government formation. D.T. Fadnavis is likely to take oath as chief minister and Shinde and Ajit Pawar as deputy chief ministers at the swearing-in ceremony to be held at Azad Maidan in Mumbai on December 5.
Before this, a meeting of BJP Parliamentary Party has been called at Vidhan Bhawan tomorrow at 10 am. In which the new leader of the assembly party will be formally selected. Later BJP will stake claim to form the government.
Since the results of assembly elections were declared on the last date, 23rd November, since BJP got the maximum number of 132 seats, it was decided that the leader of BJP would become the CM. But Eknath Shinde insisted that he be retained as CM. However, BJP did not give him a chance. Finally, last Saturday, Shinde himself announced that he was not in the race for the post of CM. Later reports came that Shinde might not even be interested in becoming the Deputy Chief Minister in the government to be formed under the leadership of Devendra Fadnavis. He himself was once the CM and had argued that under his leadership Mahayuti won the electoral battle and achieved a historic victory, after which he would not be proud to become the Deputy CM. However, BJP rejected Fadnavis’s argument and said that after being the CM once, he had been the Deputy Chief Minister in his government.
Following this standoff, Shinde went to his native Satara and fell ill there, leading to a halt in power-sharing talks in the Mahayuti. Shinde finally returned to Thane yesterday. Meanwhile, his son Shrikant Shinde also announced that he has withdrawn from the race for Deputy CM.
A possible formula for account sharing
– BJP will have 21 to 22 ministers. BJP will keep departments like Home and Revenue with itself. Apart from this, the Assembly Speaker will also be from BJP.
– Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena demanded 16 ministerial posts. But there is a possibility that he will have to be satisfied with only 12 or 13 ministers. Shinde has been assured to be given the Urban Development Ministry.
– Ajit Pawar’s NCP is likely to get 9 to 10 Prime Ministers. Ajit himself can become Finance Minister.
Shinde-Fadnavis face to face for the first time after the deadlock
Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde came face to face for the first time tonight after the deadlock over formation of the new government in Maharashtra. Fadnavis reached CM’s official bungalow Varsha to meet Shinde. It is believed that many issues including government formation, the post of Deputy Chief Minister and allocation of names and accounts of ministers were discussed in this meeting. During the day, Shinde held meetings through video conference to review the preparations for Mahaparinirvan Day and the swearing-in ceremony to be held on Thursday.
Shinde’s health re-examined
Eknath Shinde fell ill in Satara. He was suffering from fever. It is said that after returning to Thane he again got fever. This morning he suddenly reached a private hospital near his home in Thane where he underwent a medical checkup. Coming out after the checkup, Shinde claimed that his health was good. According to medical sources, Shinde was suffering from throat infection. MRI was also done as a precaution.
Walk with BJP-Shiv Sena leaders to the swearing-in ceremony site
Amidst the discussion of differences between BJP and Shiv Sena on the issue of government formation, state leaders of BJP and Shiv Sena today conducted a joint review at the swearing-in site at Azad Maidan. He said that preparations for the swearing-in ceremony have been done on a grand scale. These leaders said that the picture of government formation will also become clear soon.
Don’t create another power center by making others CM: Shinde’s advice
Explained to Shinde by giving examples of Jitan Ram Manjhi and Champai Soren.
There is a lot of discussion about why Eknath Shinde is ready to become Deputy CM again. According to the claim, BJP leaders had offered him to either become the Deputy CM himself or make his son Shrikant Shinde the Deputy CM. However, Shinde initially rejected both these proposals and demanded that another leader from his party be given the post of Deputy CM. During this time, BJP leaders had explained to him that if any other leader was made the Deputy CM, then these leaders would create a parallel power center in the future. They may challenge Shinde’s monopoly in both Shiv Sena and government in future. Recently, in Bihar, his confidant Jitan Ram Manjhi and in Jharkhand, Hemant Soren had created a political challenge against Nitish by handing over power to his confidant Champai Soren. Shinde was advised to avoid repeating this in Maharashtra.
