After days of suspense, caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has agreed to assume the role of Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. The announcement was made by party leader Uday Samant on Thursday.
Shinde’s decision came after prolonged uncertainty regarding his cabinet position. Initially, Shinde had hesitated to confirm his role, as the BJP had not met his demands for the Home portfolio and the position of Assembly Speaker for his party’s legislator.
Over the past two days, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis held multiple rounds of discussions with Shinde, but the latter had remained non-committal about joining the government. On Wednesday, Shinde had accompanied Fadnavis to Raj Bhavan but told the media that he was yet to make a decision.
However, things took a turn on Thursday morning when Uday Samant revealed that Shiv Sena MLAs had urged Shinde to join the cabinet, even threatening to forgo ministerial positions if Shinde remained outside the government.
Following this, senior BJP leader Girish Mahajan visited Shinde’s residence, and soon after, Samant confirmed that Shinde had agreed to take up the deputy chief minister position. Despite this, a senior Shiv Sena leader mentioned that the distribution of portfolios was still unresolved.”
It has been decided that the three top leaders will take the oath today. The power-sharing agreement, including the number of ministers and portfolio allocation between the three parties, will be finalized in the coming days,” the Shiv Sena leader said on the condition of anonymity.
The swearing-in ceremony will take place at 5:30 pm today at Azad Maidan in Mumbai. In the event, Fadnavis will be sworn in as Chief Minister, with Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar taking the oath as Deputy Chief Ministers.
