Maharashtra: BJP Elects Devendra Fadnavis As Legislative Party Leader; Shiv Sena To Appoint Tomorrow

A turban-clad Fadnavis thanked party MLAs for reposing faith in him and giving him another chance to serve the state. He also thanked Sena president Uddhav Thackeray.

New Delhi: Amid demand by ally Shiv Sena for the chief minister's post on a rotational basis, Devendra Fadnavis was on Wednesday re-elected leader of the state BJP legislature party. With this, Fadnavis is tipped to be appointed as the chief minister of the state once again. All the 105 newly-elected BJP MLAs were present at the meeting today, where Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar and party vice president Avinash Rai Khanna were present as central observers. A turban-clad Fadnavis thanked party MLAs for reposing faith in him and giving him another chance to serve the state. He also thanked Sena president Uddhav Thackeray. He also expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and gave an assurance that a government will be formed soon. Watch | Maharashtra: Fadnavis selected as legislative party leader Meanwhile, days after the results of the state assembly elections were declared, newly-elected MLAs of the Shiv Sena will on Thursday elect the legislature party leader in Maharashtra. A meeting to this effect will be held at the Sena Bhavan in central Mumbai, a party leader said on Wednesday. Senior leader and minister Eknath Shinde is the incumbent legislative party leader of the Sena in the outgoing Assembly. The Uddhav Thackeray-led party is currently locked in a bitter tussle with the ally BJP over sharing of power in the next government since October 24, when poll results were announced. The Sena has been demanding the post of chief minister for equal term with the BJP. However, Fadnavis on Wednesday asserted that the alliance partners will soon form government in the state. He dubbed the rumours of 'alternate formulae' being worked out to form the state government as "entertainment". Ever since results of the October 21 Assembly polls were out, Shiv Sena president Thackeray has been claiming that the 50:50 formula on sharing of power was "agreed upon" between himself, BJP president Amit Shah and Fadnavis ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. However, Fadnavis on Tuesday denied that the Sena was ever assured the chief minister's post for two-and-a-half years as part of the power sharing "formula". In the recent state polls, the BJP won 105 seats, a loss of 17 seats compared to its 2014 tally. The Sena's tally also came down to 56 seats from 63 in 2014. A resurgent NCP won 54 and the Congress bagged 44 seats. (with inputs from agencies)