MEGA TWIST IN MAHA PLOT: SHINDE IS NEW CM
Eknath Shinde sworn in as 20th chief minister of Maharashtra; former CM Fadnavis, who had earlier said he will not personally be part of the government, takes oath as deputy CM on BJP central leadership’s command
MUMBAI: A political drama for the control of Maharashtra that began with a surprise flight of MLAS from the state capital nine days ago concluded on Thursday in a twist few foresaw — rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde was sworn in as chief minister, with the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy.
The development brings the curtains on the experiment that was the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance and puts under immense pressure Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, who now faces an unprecedented crisis in retaining the reins of a party shaped around his father.
The swearing-in also brought the BJP back into power, with the state coming almost a full circle when Fadnavis unsuccessfully attempted to engineer a breakaway within the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and take the CM’S seat in 2019. There was one key difference, however. Unlike that 80-hour coup, it is Shinde, not Fadnavis, who is now in the hot seat.
On Thursday morning, Fadnavis appeared set to begin what would have been his third term until he held a press conference later afternoon, when he announced Shinde will take the top position and that he will not join the government, but support from outside.
Within two hours, however, BJP president JP Nadda announced in Delhi that he had “personally requested” Fadnavis to join the government as Shinde’s deputy. Union home minister Amit Shah then took to Twitter to thank Fadnavis for “deciding to be part of the government”.
Shinde, a four-time MLA, began his oath by paying tributes to late Shiv Sena leaders Bal Thackeray and Anand Dighe, his political mentor