New Delhi: A day after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said on Friday that he had "good and positive" discussions with Shah and BJP chief J P Nadda on the issue of government formation in the state. Speaking to reporters here before leaving for Mumbai, Shinde said the decision on the next chief minister of Maharashtra will be taken "in a day or two" in another meeting of the Mahayuti coalition in the state capital.
Fadnavis, a former Chief Minister under whose leadership the BJP crossed the 100-seat mark for the third consecutive time in the 288-member state assembly, is considered the frontrunner for the top executive post in Maharashtra.
Earlier, NCP chief and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said a decision on ministerial berths for the alliance partners -- BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP -- will be decided at the meeting with Shah though nothing is decided.
Leaders of the alliance said a new government could be in place in Maharashtra latest by December 2. Shinde, along with Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, met Shah and Nadda late Thursday to thrash out a power-sharing pact for the next government in Maharashtra after the BJP-led coalition registered a thumping majority in the Assembly elections. "We will decide (on Maharashtra CM) in a day or two. We have held discussions, and the discussions will continue. You will get to know when we take a final decision," the outgoing chief minister said.
Shinde said that he would not be an obstacle in the government formation in the state and abide by the decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah. "This 'ladka bhau' (beloved brother) designation is higher than anything else for me," he said.
Shinde said the meeting with Shah and Nadda was "good and positive". "We all discussed the formation of government. There is good coordination between the allies, we are all very positive and we will honour the clear-cut mandate given to us by the people. We will form the government soon," he said.
"The meeting was good and positive. This was the first meeting. There will be another meeting of the Mahayuti in Mumbai," Shinde told reporters early Friday. The Shiv Sena leader said the people of Maharashtra have re-elected them with a thumping majority and respecting the mandate is the topmost priority, not "running after posts".
Recovering from its Lok Sabha elections losses, the BJP bagged 132 Assembly seats, the highest among all constituents of the Mahayuti alliance. Shinde's Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's NCP also performed well. Sena won 57 while NCP bagged 41 seats. The Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a setback with the grand old party registering one of its worst performances in the Assembly polls as it won only 16 seats. Sharad Pawar's NCP(SP) won just 10 seats, whereas Uddhav Thackeray's (UBT) won 20 seats. The Maharashtra Assembly elections were held on November 20, and the results were declared on November 23.
