Maharashtra CM-designate Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday staked the claim for government formation in Maharashtra. After handing the letter of support to the Maharashtra Governor, Mahayuti leaders, including Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar addressed a press conference on the government formation.
Fadnavis said that the posts of the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Ministers in the state are just technical posts and added that the leaders will work together for Maharashtra.
After meeting Maharashtra Governor C. P. Radhakrishnan, Fadnavis said, "We met the Governor and gave him letters of support of BJP, Shiv Sena, NCP and other Mahayuti alliance partners. I want to thank CM Eknath Shinde, who as Shiv Sena chief, recommended my name as the Chief Minister. Along with that, NCP chief Ajit Pawar has also given a similar letter of support.
The CM-designate said that the Maharashtra Governor has invited the Mahayuti alliance to form government and the swearing-in ceremony will take place at 5:30 pm on Wednesday. He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also be present at the swearing-in ceremony, which is scheduled to take place at the Azad Maidan in Mumbai.
Fadnavis said he had a meeting with Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on Tuesday evening and expressed confidence that the Sena leader will remain with the Mahayuti.
"Yesterday, I met Eknath Shinde and requested him that he remains with us in this new govt. We told us that this is the wish of Shiv Sena as well as all the Mahayuti MLAs. I am hopeful that he will remain with us. Over the past 2.5 years, we (I, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar) have taken all the decisions collectively and even today, for us, this post is a technical thing for us... We will take all the decisions collectively," the BJP leader said.
Meanwhile, Shinde said that everyone is equal in Mahayuti and added that he will work under Fadnavis.
NCP chief Ajit Pawar said, "We will give our best to run the government in the state. Activities related to the party will be handled by (BJP chief) Chandrashekhar Bawankule and NCP's Sunil Tatkare."
Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday was unanimously elected as the Maharashtra BJP legislature party leader at its meeting in Mumbai, paving the way for his appointment as the chief minister.
The BJP achieved remarkable success in the November 20 Maharashtra elections, securing 132 out of the 288 assembly seats in the state, marking its best performance in the state so far. Together with its allies -- the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar's NCP, the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition has a commanding majority of 230 seats.