BJP Works Post-poll Maharashtra Thriller around Next CM

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Eknath Shinde Heads to Village to Fuel Speculations

By Raisina Correspondent

New Delhi, November 30: Even after a week of Assembly poll verdict, the Mahayuti in Maharashtra continues to dither on the government formation. Incumbent Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is heading to his village today to put the meeting of the Mahayuti on the hold.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also has failed to hold the legislative party meeting in Maharashtra. The BJP by not naming its chief ministerial candidate is delaying the government formation, said political leaders affiliated to the Shiv Sena (Shinde) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-Ajit Pawar).

Shinde by announcing his visit to the village added to buzz around the next CM of Maharashtra. The BJP is learnt to have told Shinde that a chief minister can easily become a deputy chief minister as had been the case with Devendra Fadnavis.

Reports quoted the Shinde Shiv Sena leaders saying that the incumbent chief minister is known to visit his village before making a big political decision. This has thrown prospects of the chief minister propping up his son, Shrinath Shinde, for the post of the deputy chief minister in the next Mahayuti government.

At an age of 27 years, Shrinath Shinde had won the Lok Sabha elections from the Kalyan parliamentary seat in Maharashtra. The orthopaedic doctor again won the Kalyan seat with over 3.50 lakh votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

His father is currently 60 years old. As a doting father who has guided his son’s political career, Eknath Shinde may want the BJP’s CM pick to groom Shrinath Shinde in administrative role, claimed political observers. “This arrangement may help Eknath Shinde to become a local moral guardian of the Mahayuti,” said a Shiv Sena leader.

But the Maharashtra mandate leaves no scope for the BJP allies to work pressure on the saffron outfit. An assertive BJP is just about a dozen Assembly seats away from the magical halfway mark in the Maharashtra Assembly.

The BJP won 132 Assembly seats with almost a 90 per cent strike rate in the Maharashtra Assembly elections. The Shiv Sena (Shinde) also swept to win 57 seats. The NCP of Ajit Pawar bagged 41 Assembly seats. The total strength of Maharashtra Assembly is 288 and the simple majority is 145.

“By not holding the legislative party meeting, the BJP on own is fuelling speculations about the CM face of the party,” said a senior BJP functionary, who reminded that the party leadership is in the habit of making surprising decisions.

Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah had held a meeting with the leaders of the Mahayuti on Thursday. Shah is currently attending a security conclave in Odisha. He may find time to attend to Maharashtra’s pending government business only on Sunday, said a BJP functionary.

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