Confusion over Maha CM: Section of BJP now wants Gadkari to take top post

After reports that the BJP, that emerged as the largest party in the Maharashtra assembly elections, is in no mood for negotiations with the Shiv Sena, and will now move to form the government on its own, it seems it can’t solve its ‘who will be Mukhyamantri’ problem. Even as closed-door party meetings continue over the choice of chief ministerial candidate in Maharashtra, former state BJP president Sudhir Mungantiwar has pitched for Nitin Gadkari for the post. [caption id=“attachment_1749615” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  BJP leader and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. AP[/caption] “We are surprised that Gadkari has said he doesn’t want to be in the state. We all demand, infact, the party here in Maharashtra wants Gadkari to be CM,” Mungantiwar told CNN-IBN. Not just Mungantiwar, a section of BJP leaders, according to NDTV want Gadkari as CM. Gadkari had recently said that he was happy to work in Delhi and was not looking to go back to the state. “I am happy in Delhi and I like the work I am doing here. I have already said that I don’t want to go to Maharashtra,” Gadkari had said earlier. BJP president Amit Shah’s meeting on Monday with Gadkari had raised speculation that the Union Minister was in the CM’s race but it appeared to be ruled out by party insiders. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reportedly informed party chief Amit Shah that he wants Devendra Fadnavis to be the next CM of the state if BJP wins its desired majority. With an apparent ‘clean image’, Fadnavis emerges as the consensus candidate among the two main factions in the party - one headed by Nitin Gadkari and the other, that was led by Gopinath Munde, who passed away in an accident earlier this year.