New Delhi/Mumbai: On Thursday, as photographs of the meeting between Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the three main Mahayuti leaders—Eknath Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar—hit social media platforms, there was only one talking point—the crestfallen face of the Shiv Sena leader.
After Thursday’s meeting, it’s a done deal that the next Maharashtra chief minister will be from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which won a historic mandate by winning 132 of the 288 assembly seats, despite the ambitions of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena to see its own leader back in the CM’s chair, ThePrint has learnt.
According to BJP sources, the Sena was informed about this during a meeting of Shah with the leaders of the three political parties of the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance on Thursday night.
On Friday, Shinde cancelled a meeting of Mahayuti leaders in Mumbai that was scheduled to deliberate on cabinet berths. He planned to travel to his native place, Dare village in the Satara district instead, Mahayuti sources said.
“It was obvious from Eknath Shinde’s face yesterday that he was unhappy with the decision. And that followed by today’s sudden departure to his home village further shows that he may be sulking. But, he will eventually accept the decision,” a leader of the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) told ThePrint.
“Eknath Shinde said the Mahayuti leaders meeting will make sense only after the BJP elects its legislative party leader.”
The NCP source said, the Mahayuti was planning a swearing-in ceremony on 2 December, but if the power-sharing is not finalised till then, it may have to be postponed to 4 December, which is the next auspicious day.
A leader from the Shinde-led Shiv Sena confirmed that the meeting of Mahayuti leaders scheduled for 2 pm Friday in Mumbai was cancelled.
“It is true that Shinde saheb worked very hard and was the face of the Mahayuti government in the election. So, it is obvious for him to feel disappointed. But, with regards to the photos that came out after Thursday’s meeting, we have always known Shinde saheb to maintain a poker face in tough situations. One never knows what he is thinking, so it’s better not to read too much into it,” the Sena leader said.
During Shinde’s tenure as CM, he had been known to spend a few days at Dare village off and on, carrying the entire administration with him.
What happened at Delhi meeting
BJP sources told ThePrint that Devendra Fadnavis is likely to be Maharashtra’s next CM. “During the meeting discussion was held on the power-sharing arrangement. Overall, the formula for Cabinet berths was discussed but the nitty-gritty will be taken up during meetings between the three parties in Mumbai,” one of the sources said.
On 23 November, the BJP registered its best-ever tally in the 288-member Maharashtra assembly and the best-ever strike rate, winning 132 of the 148 seats it had contested with an impressive strike rate of 88.5 percent.
The campaign had been entirely designed with Fadnavis, who has served as CM from 2014 to 2019, and then again for three days in 2019, as its face. In this context, party leaders in Maharashtra say it will send a wrong message to the cadres if the BJP were to give up the CM’s post or overlook Fadnavis’ contribution.
In 2022 when the Mahayuti government first came to power with Shinde at the helm, the party leadership had asked Fadnavis to take oath as Deputy CM despite him wanting to stay out of the government.
According to the BJP source, the Sena has demanded 14 portfolios. The meeting held Thursday night was attended by Shinde, Fadnavis, Pawar, and BJP national president J.P. Nadda.
“During the meeting which lasted over two hours, Amit Shah ji gave the nod for the arrangement wherein the CM will be from the BJP, and there will be two deputy chief ministers, one from each ally, the Shiv Sena and the NCP,” the party source explained.
The NCP has demanded nine cabinet berths and three junior minister slots, a source from the party said.
According to a senior BJP leader, the BJP may hold a meeting of its MLAs on Saturday and appoint its leader for the Chief Minister’s post.
The BJP, a party functionary said, is also in talks with the Sena to ensure Shinde joins the cabinet to ensure it sends out a positive message not only of overall unity in the alliance but so that he doesn’t feel “left out”.
“Devendra Fadnavis had served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and when the party expected him to serve as the deputy keeping the interest of the party in mind, he adhered to it. There shouldn’t be any issue in Eknath Shinde serving as the deputy. Talks are still on to address these issues,” the leader said.
Soon after the results on Saturday, the Shiv Sena had started pushing for the CM’s post with its MP Naresh Mhaske, known to be close to Shinde, asking the BJP to follow the Bihar model in Maharashtra. In 2020, the BJP had conceded the CM’s post to Nitish Kumar despite winning more seats than Janata Dal (United).
Party workers held ‘Maha aartis’ across the state to press for their demand, while Shinde maintained a stoic silence until Wednesday when he indicated his willingness to give up the post by saying he will accept the BJP leadership’s decision as final.
“We understand where the BJP is coming from. If we had got such a huge mandate even we wouldn’t have left the CM’s post,” a Shinde-led Shiv Sena leader said.
Ajit Pawar’s NCP, on the other hand, had clarified right after the result that it doesn’t mind backing Fadnavis as the chief minister.
A Maharashtra-based BJP leader said the Mahayuti wants to hammer out all the power sharing equations in the cabinet before the swearing in ceremony, so that there are no upsets later.
Tentatively, he said, of the four major departments—home, finance, revenue and urban development—two are likely to be with the BJP, while one each will go to the allies.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
