Amid the suspense over the Chief Ministerial face in Maharashtra, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has hinted at its firm stand on Devendra Fadnavis’s name, adding that there is no question of replicating the “Bihar formula” for the top post in the state.
According to a report by Hindustan Times, BJP national spokesperson Prem Shukla emphasised that in case of Bihar, the announcement to make Nitish Kumar CM was done before the assembly election. However, no such commitment was made to the Shiv Sena, he added.
“Firstly, the announcement to make Nitish Kumar CM was done before the election. In Maharashtra, there was no such commitment made to the Shiv Sena. Secondly, we formed an alliance with Janata Dal (United) in Bihar so that the BJP could make inroads into the state, which did not happen. Hence there is no question of replicating the same in Maharashtra”, Shukla said.
The BJP leader also said that the “formula applicable for Bihar does not necessarily hold true for Maharashtra.”
“In Maharashtra, there is no reason for such a commitment as we have a stronger organisational base and leadership. Above all, the party never gave any commitment of continuing with Eknath Shinde as CM after the elections. On the contrary, the top leadership maintained throughout the elections that a decision on the CM would be based on the electoral outcome”, Prem Shukla told The Indian Express.
Moreover, former union minister and BJP’s election coordinator Raosaheb Danve rubbished the claims that Eknath Shinde was promised the CM post by the BJP, and said, “The process of choosing the CM has started. Two parties have already appointed their legislative leaders, and the BJP will pick one soon.”
Eknath Shinde, deputies resign
Earlier, Eknath Shinde and his deputies – Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar – met with Maharashtra governor CP Radhakrishnan and submitted their resignations. However, they will remain in a caretaker capacity until a new chief minister is sworn in.
The urgency of the resignation arose as the term of the state assembly came to an end on November 26.
The BJP-led alliance Mahayuti secured a massive victory in th recently concluded Maharashtra assembly polls, with the BJP winning 132 seats, Shiv Sena 57, NCP-Ajit Pawar 41, comfortably crossing the majority mark of 145.
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