- Devendra Fadnavis to be the Deputy CM
- Week long political turbulence ends in the state
IndiGlobal Bureau
In a significant development which many did not see coming, Shiv Sena rebel Eknath Shinde was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Former CM Devendra Fadnavis said that BJP will not be part of the new government, but will support it from outside.
However, BJP High Command intervened and Fadnavis had to change his mind a few hours later. BJP will be joining the Eknath Shinde government and Fadnavis will be taking up Deputy CM post.
Earlier in the afternoon, Fadnavis and Shinde met with Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and staked a claim to form the government. Political pundits expected Fadnavis to assume the CM’s chair with Shinde being his deputy. However, in a joint press meet with Eknath Shinde by his side, Fadnavis dropped a bombshell. He announced that Shinde will be swearing in as the new CM of Maharashtra at 7.30 pm, bringing down curtains to week long political turmoil in Maharashtra.
Shinde, who spearheaded the revolt with 40-odd Shiv Sena MLAs siding with him and staying in camps in Surat, Guwahati and Goa, thanked the BJP leadership for offering him the CM post, although the national party had majority MLAs in the assembly. The rebel faction, which has 40 MLAs, is claiming to be Shiv Sena as Uddhav Thackeray is left with only 13 MLAs.
