Mumbai: Maharashtra caretaker chief minister, Eknath Shinde met senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis for around 45 minutes at his official residence Varsha in south Mumbai ahead of the swearing-in ceremony on Thursday, sources said.
The swearing-in ceremony will be held at the Azaad Maidan in south Mumbai on December 5 and it will be graced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Shinde also reviewed preparations for the Mahaparinirvan Diwas, which will be observed on December 6.
At around 3.30 pm, Shinde left for Varsha from Jupiter Hospital in Thane. Earlier in the day, Shinde was rushed to the Jupiter Hospital where he underwent an MRI examination following a throat infection. Ajay P Thakkar, MD of the hospital informed that he was subjected to an MRI test.
Before leaving his Thane residence, Shinde said he was in good health. However, his convoy headed towards the hospital soon after leaving the premises of the house. He was undergoing treatment at home as he was not keeping well for the past few days. The result of his dengue test came negative on Tuesday.
MLAs have been queuing up at Shinde's residence in Thane, Shubh Deep, since Monday, but many failed to meet him due to his health condition. Senior BJP leader Girish Mahajan and former Shive Sena MP Rahul Shewale met him. Mahajan said during their meeting, they discussed preparations for the swearing-in ceremony of the next chief minister of Maharashtra, underlining that there are no conflicts among the leaders of the Mahayuti.
"I came here to meet Eknath Shinde, who has not been well for the past few days. There is no displeasure. We sat together for an hour and had a conversation. He also discussed preparations for December 5, and I shared some thoughts. We have a lot of work to do for the people of the state, and we are going to work together for them," Mahajan told reporters after the meeting on Monday.
Earlier on Sunday, Shinde had confirmed that he had recovered from the fever and was in good health. On Thursday evening, Shinde, along with Devendra Fadnavis (being widely speculated as the frontrunner for the chief minister's post), Ajit Pawar, and other Mahayuti leaders, met union home minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J P Nadda in Delhi to discuss the ongoing logjam over the chief ministerial role.
The Mahayuti, led by the BJP, secured a landslide victory in the assembly elections held on November 23. However, the alliance has yet to finalise its chief ministerial face. With 132 seats in the 280-member House, the BJP emerged as the largest alliance partner, while its allies —Shiv Sena (Shinde), and the NCP (Ajit Pawar) —won 57 and 41 seats, respectively.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a major setback where Congress had to contend with 16 seats, while its allies — Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SCP)— secured 20 and 10 seats respectively.
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