Maharashtra govt formation: Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Chandrashekhar Bawankule announced on X that the swearing-in ceremony of the Mahayuti government will take place at Mumbai's Azad Maidan on December 5. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the oath-taking ceremony. The date announcement comes amid a tussle between three constituents of Mahayuti - BJP, NCP and Shiv Sena as the alliance has not reached a final agreement on portfolio allocations in the next cabinet in Maharashtra. The date and place of the oath-taking ceremony are decided but the name of the next chief minister is yet not announced. However, it is almost clear that the saffron party is likely to back former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for the top job in the state.
16,416 MLAs, MPs, various cell presidents, and Mandal presidents from BJP will be present at the oath-taking ceremony at Azad Maidan. 6,000-7,000 party workers and officials of Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena will also attend the event. 4,000 workers from Ajit Pawar's NCP may come there. The capacity of Azad Maidan is 50,000 people. Seating arrangements will be made for about 25,000, said the sources.
We will back BJP's decision on next CM: Shinde
Earlier, the outgoing Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's announcement that he would accept the decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the next chief minister, cleared the deck for the next CM. He, Ajit Pawar and Fadnavis met Shah in Delhi on Thursday night and discussed the power-sharing pact in the state.
Shinde said he will “fully support” BJP leadership’s decision to name the next CM, adding that he won’t be a hurdle in the process. His announcement made the decks clear for the BJP to name Devendra Fadnavis as the CM for the third time.
Meanwhile, months after a dismal show in the Lok Sabha elections, the Mahayuti bounced back with a landslide victory in the Maharashtra Assembly elections. The BJP won 132 seats, Shinde's Shiv Sena bagged 57 while Ajit Pawar NCP won 41 seats. On the other hand, Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a setback. The grand old party registered one of its worst performances in the state assembly polls after it won only 16 seats. Sharad Pawar's NCP(SP) won just 10 seats, whereas Uddhav Thackeray's (UBT) won 20 seats.
