Mahayuti Meet Cancelled, Shinde Heads Home: Maharashtra Suspense To Last Longer

Last Updated:November 29, 2024, 15:42 IST

Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde and NCP’s Ajit Pawar will finalise a list of ministers and fly to Delhi on Monday to meet with the BJP top brass

Maharashtra caretaker CM Eknath Shinde with Mahayuti leaders. (PTI)

The suspense over Maharashtra government formation is set to last at least two more days as a key Mahayuti meeting in Mumbai has been cancelled and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde has left for his native village in Sitara.

Responding to the latest developments, Shiv Sena leader Uday Samant said the Maharashtra caretaker CM was not upset over anything and had gone to his village for personal reasons.

The Mahayuti alliance, comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), emerged victorious the Maharashtra assembly election results six days ago and a new chief minister and his team of ministers are yet to take charge.

Sources have said that the key alliance leaders, BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis, Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde and NCP’s Ajit Pawar will finalise a list and fly to Delhi on Monday to meet with the BJP top brass before making an announcement.

Here are the top developments in the story:

• Shiv Sena leader Uday Samant said the BJP will appoint its legislative party leader in the next two days, which will make it easier for the Mahayuti allies to decide on the next course of action.
• Shiv Sena’s deputy leader in Lok Sabha, Dhairyasheel Sambhajirao Mane, said Eknath Shinde would prefer to stay back in Maharashtra.
• Mane said Eknath Shinde was likely to push for his son, Shrikant, for a cabinet berth at the Centre.
• “We hope we’ll get some clarity over the next two days,” he added.
• Shiv Sena MP and senior leader Naresh Mhaske emphasised that Eknath Shinde would remain in Maharashtra as he was an MLA, adding that top party leaders will finalise who’ll get the Cabinet post at the Centre.
• Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a crucial meeting in New Delhi on Thursday night with Mahayuti leaders to end the deadlock over Maharashtra’s Chief Minister post, which sources said has been allocated to the BJP.
• Amid the suspense over who would assume the state’s top post, sources told CNN-News18 that Thursday’s meeting primarily witnessed discussions around cabinet berth allocations, with Eknath Shinde demanding at least 12 key ministerial berths in the new cabinet for Shiv Sena.
• BJP President JP Nadda and Mahayuti leaders including Devendra Fadnavis and NCP’s Ajit Pawar were also part of the meeting, which Shinde described as “good and positive.” He confirmed that another meeting would happen in Mumbai today for a final decision on the CM’s face.