After weeks of speculation and suspense, the Maharashtra BJP Legislature has officially elected former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis as its leader on Wednesday at the Vidhan Bhavan. This decision now sets the stage for Fadnavis to stake a claim to form the government in the state.
The BJP Parliamentary Board had earlier appointed Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani as central observers for the legislative party meeting. Their task was to oversee the election of the new leader. The meeting began with a core committee discussion, chaired by Sitharaman and Rupani at 10 am, followed by the legislative party meeting at 11 am, where Fadnavis’ leadership was proposed by former state minister Sudhir Mungantiwar. The proposal received unanimous backing from the newly-elected MLAs.
Ahead of the meeting, several BJP MLAs had expressed their strong preference for Fadnavis as the next Maharashtra CM, referring to him as their “first choice.” The announcement was followed by the confirmation that Fadnavis and other key Mahayuti leaders would soon visit Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan to formally stake a claim for the government formation.
Although the BJP had remained tight-lipped about the identity of the new Chief Minister, reports had already hinted that Fadnavis was the frontrunner for the post. The BJP confirmed that the swearing-in ceremony for the new government would take place on December 5 at Azad Maidan in Mumbai, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and other senior leaders expected to attend.
The Mahayuti alliance, which includes the BJP, Shiv Sena, and the NCP (Ajit Pawar faction), secured a resounding victory in the recent Maharashtra Assembly elections, winning 230 of the 288 seats. This victory was seen as a major comeback for the BJP following a disappointing performance in the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year.
Though several names had circulated within the alliance as potential candidates for the CM post, there was strong support for Fadnavis from both the BJP and its allies. Despite the backing of Shiv Sena leaders for the caretaker CM, Eknath Shinde, the decision to give Fadnavis the post came after widespread consensus within the party.
With the elections concluded and Fadnavis firmly in the lead, the focus will now shift to the swearing-in ceremony, which marks the beginning of a new chapter in Maharashtra’s political landscape.