Maharashtra’s caretaker chief minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday said that the

Mahayuti alliance

would convene another meeting in Mumbai to decide on the next chief minister.
Shinde’s comments came after key meeting in Delhi between Shinde, BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis, NCP’s Ajit Pawar, and other Mahayuti leaders with Union minister Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda.
“The meeting was good and positive. This was the first meeting. We had a discussion with Amit Shah and JP Nadda,” Shinde said.
“There will be another meeting of the Mahayuti. In this meeting, a decision

will be taken about who will be the chief minister. The meeting will be held in Mumbai,” he further added.
Previously, Shinde confirmed there were no issues regarding the chief minister’s position and would accept whatever decision Prime Minister Narendra Modi makes.
“I cleared my role in the press conference yesterday that there are no obstacles regarding the Chief Minister of Mahayuti. This ‘ladla bhai’ has arrived in Delhi and the ‘ladla bhai’ is a designation higher than anything else for me,” Shinde stated.

“I have told the Prime Minister that if my presence creates any obstacle in forming the government in Maharashtra, there should be no hesitation in making a decision. Whatever decision you take will be acceptable to me,” he said.
Fadnavis also confirmed the alliance’s unity, stating a decision on the chief minister’s position would be reached after consulting leaders.
Fadnavis told the media, “In our Mahayuti alliance, there has never been a difference of opinion. We have always made decisions collectively. Before the elections, we announced that the decision regarding the Chief Minister’s post would be taken collectively after the results.”
“A few people had doubts, but Eknath Shinde ji has clarified those today. We will soon meet our leaders and finalise the decision,” he added.
The Shiv Sena, who secured 57 assembly seats, has been pushing for Shinde’s as chief minister, citing his leadership in securing the coalition’s substantial victory. They reference exit polls indicating Shinde’s popularity for the position.
The BJP, achieving its highest-ever tally of 132 seats in the 288-member assembly, maintains that Devendra Fadnavis should become the next chief minister.
In 2022, when the BJP allied with Shinde Sena following the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government’s collapse, Shinde became chief minister with Fadnavis as deputy. Despite the recent election results, Shiv Sena supports maintaining this arrangement. Some Sena leaders reference Bihar’s model, where Nitish Kumar leads the NDA government despite JD(U) having fewer seats than BJP.