BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis to be Maharashtra CM, rebel Eknath Shinde to be his deputy

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Devendra Fadvavis will return as chief minister of Maharashtra, and Eknath Shinde – who rebelled against his party, the Shiv Sena – will be the state’s deputy CM.

The last week has seen dramatic political developments in Maharashtra in which Shinde led several Shiv Sena MLAs and left for Gujarat, announcing rebellion against CM Uddhav Thackeray. Later, the team left for Assam. Both Gujarat and Assam are BJP-ruled states. Last evening, Shinde flew to Goa, which too is BJP ruled.

Last night, Uddhav Thackeray resigned after losing most of his Shiv Sena MLAs in the rebellion. This was after the Supreme Court yesterday ruled that he must prove his majority.

Fadnavis and Shinde are to meet Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari later today. Fadnavis is scheduled to be sworn in as the new CM tomorrow.

The Shiv Sena chief was left with only 13 MLAs after the rebellion. The BJP has been maintaining that it had no role to play in the rebellion. The party said that it was an “internal matter of the Shiv Sena”.  However, Fadnavis held several meetings over the past few days during the Maharashtra crisis and held discussions with Shinde and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.