Maha: BJP chooses Devendra Fadnavis as CM, wants Sena to be part of govt

After much speculation about who would take up the coveted post of Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis was on Tuesday elected BJP Legislature Party leader. Fadnavis will be sworn in as first BJP Maharashtra Chief Minister on Friday, propped by the NCP from outside. Fadnavis, who took to politics when he was barely 22 years old, pledged to provide good governance “following the footsteps Narendra Modi”. [caption id=“attachment_1777039” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Governor of Maharashtra C Vidyasagar Rao presents the letter of appointment to the Chief Minister- designate Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai on Tuesday. PTI[/caption] “I assure the people of Maharashtra that we will make efforts to take Maharashtra forward the way (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi has given good governance and is guiding the country on the path of development,” said Fadnavis, who is married to bank manager Amruta and father of a teenaged daughter, Divija. “This government will follow path of Shivaji Maharaj and also the Constitution given to us by Dr Ambedkar,” he said. Speaking in Marathi and Hindi as supporters burst firecrackers and distributed sweets, Fadnavis credited the BJP’s showing in the assembly polls to Modi, party president Amit Shah and other party colleagues. The 44-year-old fourth term MLA from Nagpur South West seat, with RSS roots and strong backing of PM Modi and Amit Shah, would be only the second Brahmin Chief Minister of the state after estranged ally Shiv Sena’s Manohar Joshi. Surmounting competition from several members of the state BJP’s Core Committee, who were vying for the post Fadnavis was declared elected leader of the Legislature Party by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, observer for the Maharashtra Assembly election. Fadnavis’ name for the leader of BJP Legislature Party was proposed by Leader of Opposition in the outgoing Assembly Eknath Khadse and seconded by others who were in the race, including Khadse’s counterpart in the Legislative Council Vinod Tawde, former state BJP Chief Sudhir Mungantiwar and Core Committee member Pankaja Munde Palve. The resolution for his election was adopted unanimously, Rajnath Singh said after the meeting which lasted little over 20 minutes, preceded by a meeting of the state BJP’s Core Committee. Fadnavis, whom Modi had described as “Nagpur’s gift to the country” at an election rally, has a clean public image and helmed the BJP in Maharashtra when it posted impressive performances in Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. Accompanied by BJP General Secretary Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, state Core Committee members Eknath Khadse and Vinod Tawde, besides allies RPI leader Ramdas Athawale and RSP’s Mahadev Jankar, Fadnavis called on Governor C Vidyasagar Rao to stake claim to form the government. The Governor accepted the suggestion to swear in the new government on 31 October. PM Modi, several of his Cabinet colleagues and Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states will attend the ceremony at Wankhede Stadium. “We gave the Governor a letter seeking opportunity for BJP to form government. The Governor has asked us to prove majority in 15 days after the swearing in on 31 October,” Fadnavis told reporters after meeting Rao. BJP General Secretary in-charge of Maharashtra JP Nadda said the swearing-in ceremony will be held at 4 pm. Apart from the speculations over who would be Maharashtra chief minister, there has also been a lot of conjecture about whether or not the BJP and Shiv Sena would kiss and make up to form a government in Maharashtra. While both the parties at first said they did not want each others’ support, they softened their stands over the course of last week, after the election results were declared. Even as BJP staked claim to form a government in the state, there were reports of back channel talks still continuing between the two estranged saffron allies and that the Shiv Sena may join the government when the ministry is expanded. Senior BJP leaders on Tuesday said that the party would “take Sena along with it” when it forms the new state government. Firstpost’s Vishwas Waghmode reported JP Nadda as saying,  “We want to take the Sena along and want it to be a part of the government. But, there’s been some delay in the discussions. The talks with Sena are on and we hope there will be a positive outcome soon.” BJP sources said that the government is likely to have around 22-23 cabinet ministers of which, the chief minister and six or seven others are likely to take the oath on Friday. However, Sena leaders won’t be part of the oath taking ceremony. Meanwhile the Sena, which had on Monday openly voiced its desire to join a coalition government with BJP, on Tuesday said it would wait for the swearing-in of the new Chief Minister before taking a call on supporting the government. It also trashed as “false” media reports that it had demanded the post of Deputy Chief Minister and key portfolios as pre-condition for support. “A lot of false news is being spread in the media that we have demanded the post of Deputy Chief Minister or some specific portfolios in return for our support to BJP. I want the media to stop focusing on baseless rumours. We have not demanded anything yet,” Sena MP and spokesman Sanjay Raut told reporters after meeting party Chief Uddhav Thackeray. With agency inputs