Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde was sworn in as Chief Minister of Maharashtra on Thursday, while BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister. In his first cabinet meeting, CM Eknath Shinde decided to reverse Uddhav Thackeray’s government’s crucial decision to halt the construction of metro sheds in Aarey Forest.
After chairing the first cabinet meeting, Shinde traveled to Goa to meet with the rest of his rebel camp. He was welcomed by Goa’s Prime Minister Pramod Sawant. Previously, Shinde said after being named CM-designate that he was always grateful for the support he received from all the rebellious lawmakers and would never let them down.
After Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde claimed to form the government in the Raj Bhavan, former Chief Minister of Maharashtra Fadnavis declared that Shinde would be the new CM and stay out of the government. However, in a dramatic turn of events, the BJP’s central leadership has asked Devendra Fadnavis to become part of the new government and take on the role of deputy prime minister, BJP national president JP Nadda announced. Moments later, Union Interior Minister Amit Shah announced that Fadnavis had accepted JP Nadda’s proposal and would join the Maharashtra government.
Earlier, Fadnavis said that the BJP will fully support Eknath Shinde’s government as the newly formed cabinet will have members from both the BJP and Shinde’s Shiv-Sena camp. In a joint press conference, Fadnavis attacked the Shiv Sena for insulting the people’s mandate in 2019 and forming an alliance with “those opposed to Hindutva & Savarkar” after the election.
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The resignation of Thackeray, 62, capped a week-long resort politics drama in which Shiv Sena’s rebel MLAs, led by Minister Eknath Shinde, camped out in luxury hotels and boarded chartered jets from Mumbai to Surat and Guwahati before boarding cool climes landed from Goa on Wednesday evening. In a televised address shortly after 9:30 p.m., Thackeray said he was hurt by the rebellion in his party and announced that he had also decided to step down as a member of the state Legislative Council.
The political strife in Maharashtra entered a crucial phase on Wednesday when Koshyari ordered the state government to take a soil test at the assembly on Thursday, a day after a BJP delegation met him and called for a soil test alleging the of Sena-led government is a minority. Shiv Sena’s chief whip Sunil Prabhu, led by Thackeray, then dragged the Supreme Court against Governor Koshyari’s orders. However, after a lengthy hearing, the Supreme Court declined to order the soil test, which was due to take place at 11am today.
