New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party has appointed Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani as central observers for the Maharashtra legislature party meeting. During this meeting, BJP MLAs will choose their leader, who is likely to become the next chief minister of the state.
According to Maharashtra BJP President Chandrashekhar Bawankule, the swearing-in ceremony of the new Mahayuti government is set for the evening of December 5 at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai. Ahead of the ceremony, BJP legislators will gather to elect their leader.
The new Maharashtra government is yet to be sworn in, more than a week after the BJP-led NDA, known as Mahayuti, secured a sweeping victory in the state elections. All indications point to BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis taking oath as Maharashtra’s chief minister on December 5. Party leaders have reportedly finalized his name for the top post, a position for which outgoing caretaker CM Eknath Shinde was also in contention.
Although the new government is yet to be sworn in, Fadnavis is expected to be elected as the legislature party leader during a meeting scheduled for either December 2 or 3. This follows the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), known as the Mahayuti in Maharashtra, securing a sweeping victory in the state elections.
The Mahayuti coalition won 230 out of 288 assembly seats, with the BJP claiming 132 seats, the Shiv Sena securing 57, and the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) winning 41 seats.