BJP appointed former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani and Nirmala Sitharaman as party’s central observers for Maharashtra
Former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman have been named Central Observers for Maharashtra by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
More than a week has gone by and the Mahayuti coalition still hasn’t announced its future chief minister, despite winning the Maharashtra Assembly elections handily.
Shiv Sena leader and interim chief minister Eknath Shinde said on Sunday that the BJP had the last say in the matter and promised his complete support for the selected candidate.
Shrikant Shinde, a Shiv Sena MP from Kalyan, denied the “rumours” that he will be Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister on Monday and made it clear that he is not looking for a cabinet post in the state.
“The formation of government is somewhat delayed after election results, which is why there are a lot of rumors circulating, one of which is that I would serve as the deputy chief minister in the new administration. I would want to inform everyone that there is no truth to this; it is wholly unfounded and untrue. After the Lok Sabha elections, I had the opportunity to join the Union Cabinet as a minister, but I choose to work for my party organization instead, and I still don’t want a position of authority,” Shrikant Shinde said on X (previously Twitter).
On Saturday, November 23, the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly results were announced. The Mahayuti won 230 of the 288 state legislature seats in these elections. The alliance hasn’t decided on a candidate for chief minister yet, however.
The Shiv Sena, headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and the NCP, led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, each won 57 seats and 41 seats, respectively, while the BJP took home 132 seats.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), on the other hand, suffered a significant defeat. Only 20 seats were gained by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), 16 by the Congress, and 10 by the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP).
