Mumbai: Rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, who led the party revolt that led to the collapse of the MVA government, will be the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and will take the oath of office at 7.30 p.m. on Thursday, according to BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, who was himself tipped to occupy the seat.
Shinde arrived in Mumbai from Goa and met Fadnavis at the latter’s official residence in south Mumbai to discuss the formation of the next Maharashtra government. Shinde and Fadnavis went to the Raj Bhavan after their meeting, along with several other BJP leaders. They submitted a letter of supporting MLAs’ to Governor BS Koshyari and staked their claim to form the government.
Shinde claimed to have the backing of 50 MLAs. In the Maharashtra Assembly, the BJP has 106 MLAs and the support of some smaller parties and independents.
Despite having 120 MLAs, Devendra Fadnavis did not accept the position of Chief Minister. I thank him, as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and other BJP leaders, for their generosity in naming Balasaheb’s Sainik (party worker) as the state’s chief minister, Shinde said.
Former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has stated that he will not join the Eknath Shinde-led ministry but will support it from outside. Following today’s swearing-in ceremony, we will have a cabinet expansion, with Shiv Sena and BJP leaders taking the oath. I will not participate in government according to reports.
Shinde, 58, has been elected to the Maharashtra Assembly four times in a row: in 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019. A mass leader, he was instrumental in strengthening the Shiv Sena in Thane, and wields considerable power there.
Shinde, who was born in Satara district, moved to Thane in the 1970s. He worked in a brewery and drove an autorickshaw before joining the Shiv Sena in the 1980s after being influenced by Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and Sena Thane district chief Anand Dighe.
On Wednesday, Uddhav Thackeray had resigned as CM before a floor test in the state Assembly.