New Delhi:The impasse over the post of the new Maharashtra Chief Minister is likely to be over on Tuesday as the BJP has announced Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani as central observers for its Maharashtra legislature party's meeting.
During the meeting, the newly-elected MLAs will elect their leader, who is likely to be the state's next chief minister. The legislature party meeting is expected to be held on December 4 in Mumbai, sources said.
In a statement, the BJP named Sitharaman and Rupani as central observers for the meeting. Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule has said that the oath-taking ceremony of the new Mahayuti government will take place on December 5 evening at the Azad Maidan in south Mumbai. The oath-taking ceremony will be graced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior BJP leaders.
Though the saffron party has made no announcement, former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, the deputy chief minister in the outgoing government, is being seen as the frontrunner for the post of Chief Minister. The party's two main allies, the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party, are each tipped to be given deputy CM positions in the new government.
Eknath Shinde, who is the caretaker chief minister, has already made it clear that he will not come in the way of BJP getting the Chief Minster's post. In the recently concluded state polls, the Mahayuti won 230 of the 288 assembly seats. The BJP led with 132 seats, while the Shiv Sena got 57 and NCP 41 seats.
The Opposition MVA, comprising Congress, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Shiv Sena (UBT) have taken a dig at the Mahayuti for the delay in the government formation after the results were declared on November 23.
