Mumbai:Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Saturday said that the Mahayuti government will take oath at a grand ceremony on December 5 in Mumbai.
In a post on X, Bawankule said, "Oath-taking ceremony of the Maha-Yuti Government in Maharashtra it will be held in the presence of the pride of the world, Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji on Thursday, December 5, 2024, at 5 PM at Azad Maidan, Mumbai (sic)."
Meanwhile, NCP leader Ajit Pawar said that the Chief Minister will be from the BJP. "During the meeting (Delhi meeting of Mahayuti leaders) it was decided that Mahayuti will form the government with the Chief Minister from BJP and the remaining two parties will have Deputy Chief Ministers... This is not the first time there has been a delay, if you remember, in 1999, one month was taken for government formation."
The oath-taking ceremony will take place at the Azad Maidan in south Mumbai. The Mahayuti comprising BJP, Shiv Sena led by Interim Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and NCP led by Ajit Pawar retained power in the key state in the recently concluded Assembly elections. The BJP alone got a staggering 132 seats, while the Shiv Sena and the NCP bagged 57 and 41 seats respectively.
Sources also said the legislative party meeting of the BJP could be held on December 2 or December 3 to elect their leader. While Shiv Sena MLAs have elected Eknath Shinde as their leader, the NCP MLAs have elected Ajit Pawar as their leader.
The Mahayuti leaders including Devendra Fadnavis, Shinde, Pawar, Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel met Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who congratulated them on their spectacular victory. Amid all the suspense of who would be the new Maharashtra Chief Minister, Interim Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is in his native village - Dare - in the Satara district.
It was understood that Shinde fell ill on Saturday and was suffering from a fever. Sources also said that Shinde did not move from the house and did not meet anyone. Shiv Sena leader Deepak Kesarkar, who was elected as an MLA from Sawantwadi, returned to his hometown from Mahabaleshwar, which is near Shinde's village.
Only 10 police personnel of the Satara police are posted at the residence of Shinde in Dare village.
Devendra Fadnavis has maintained that there is no fight over the post of the Chief Minister and all the three parties were on the same page. The Opposition MVA, comprising Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) and the Shiv Sena (UBT), had taken a dig at the Mahayuti for the delay in the government formation.
