MUMBAI: BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said that rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde will be the new chief minister of Maharashtra and that he ''will stay out of the government'', contrary to popular perception and media reports.


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Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde will be the new chief minister of Maharashtra, Fadnavis said while addressing a joint press conference on Thursday. “After the swearing-in ceremony today, we will have a cabinet expansion and Shiv Sena and BJP leaders will take the oath. I will stay out of the government,” Fadnavis said.


 



 


Hailing Shinde, Fadnavis said that Eknath Shinde is the group leader of Shiv Sena who wanted to end the alliance with Congress and NCP but Uddhav Thackeray did not oblige.


Attacking Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, Fadnavis said that in the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections, people voted for the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance but that mandate was insulted and the Maha Vikas Aghadi government was formed. Shiv Sena formed an alliance with those who are against Hindutva & Savarkar. Shiv Sena insulted the mandate of the people, Fadnavis alleged.


Justifying the rebellion within the Shiv Sena, Fadnavis said, "Shiv Sena MLAs were demanding that the alliance with Congress and NCP should be ended but Uddhav Thackeray ignored these MLAs and gave priority to MVA alliance partners, that's why these MLAs intensified their voices.


Speaking in his turn, Shinde said that ''the decision that we have taken is committed to Balasaheb's Hindutva and for the development work in the constituencies of our MLAs. We have 50 MLAs with us."


He further said that "we went to former CM Thackeray with our constituency's grievances & development work along with advising him on the need for improvement as we started realizing that it would be difficult for us to win the next elections. We demanded a natural alliance with BJP."


The dramatic announcement came after Fadnavis and Shinde met Governor B S Koshyari at Raj Bhavan. It was considered a foregone conclusion that Fadnavis will become the CM for the third time, in alliance with the Shinde-led Sena rebels. However, Fadnavis said Shinde will be sworn in as CM at Raj Bhavan at 7.30 pm on Thursday.


"We have submitted a list to the Governor of all the BJP MLAs, the group led by Shindeji, 16 Independents and others, with more joining us soon," said Fadnavis.


Accordingly, Shinde will be sworn-in alone as the CM on Thursday at 7.30 pm at the Raj Bhavan; later, the cabinet will be expanded to accommodate MLAs from both sides.

"I will remain out of the government, but I shall do everything possible to make the new government a success on all fronts, and resume the developmental activities that had stopped in the past two-and-a-half years," Fadiavis said.