Leaders of the Maharashtra NDA alliance, including the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP, are set to meet with the BJP's national leadership on Thursday to finalize the composition of the new state government. The meeting is expected to confirm the formula of one chief minister and two deputy chief ministers, with the BJP likely to hold the chief ministerial post and its allies Shiv Sena and NCP sharing the deputy chief minister positions. The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance won a landslide victory in the recent state assembly elections, securing 230 seats in the 288-member House.
Barring a few, such as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu (74), Union Minister C R Patil (69) and Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Khanna (71), most other ministers attending the WEF represent the next generation of India's politicians.
'More than Eknath Shinde's wish, we want him (Shinde) to lead us in the government.'
Former deputy chief minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig was among the 24 candidates in Baramulla constituency whose deposits were forfeited.
"It is just that Fadnavis and I have swapped our chairs. Only Ajit Pawar's chair is fixed," said Shinde, who was the CM before the assembly elections with Fadnavis and Pawar as his deputies then.
The Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP, will decide whether only the chief minister and deputy CMs will take the oath of office on December 5, or whether ministers will also be sworn in. The swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for the evening at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending. While BJP sources have indicated that Devendra Fadnavis is the frontrunner for the chief minister's post, the BJP legislature party leader is yet to be appointed. NCP chief Ajit Pawar has stated that the chief minister will be from the BJP, with deputy CMs from the Shiv Sena and NCP. The Mahayuti alliance secured a landslide victory in the assembly elections, winning 230 seats out of 288. The government formation has been delayed due to disagreements on the chief minister's position.
On Thursday, Fadnavis wrote a letter to Ajit Pawar opposing NCP leader Nawab Malik sitting on a treasury bench seat.
Replying to a question about women empowerment, Sitharaman insisted that patriarchy is a concept invented by the Left.
The Maharashtra government is set to expand its cabinet on December 15 with 30-32 ministers taking the oath of office at a ceremony in Nagpur. The week-long winter session of the state legislature is scheduled to begin in Nagpur on December 16. The BJP-led government, which came to power after the November 20 assembly polls, has seen its fair share of twists and turns in the cabinet formation process. The BJP is likely to get 20-21 ministerial berths, followed by 11-12 for the Sena and 9-10 for the NCP.
Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Rahul Narwekar was on Monday elected unopposed as the speaker of the 15th Maharashtra legislative assembly.
Two days after being sworn in as Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday took oath as an MLA along with deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi boycotted the ceremony alleging EVM misuse.
Narendra Modi (Gujarat), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Rajnath Singh (Uttar Pradesh), Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana), Sarbananda Sonowal (Assam), H D Kumaraswamy (Karnataka), and Jitan Ram Manjhi (Bihar).
Vijayvargiya stated that a clear decision on CM candidates will be revealed by December 10, but refrained from disclosing whether the party will select leaders from the newly elected MLAs or bring in outsiders.
Chief ministers of three Congress-ruled states -- Karnataka's Siddaramaiah, Himachal Pradesh's Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Telangana's Revanth Reddy -- have announced they will not attend the NITI Aayog meeting over alleged bias against their states in the Union Budget.
Cooperation Minister K N Rajanna on Saturday floated the idea of having three more Deputy Chief Ministers in Karnataka, and said he will discuss it with the Congress high command, keeping in mind the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
He said that as compared to global models costing 2.5 to 3 US dollars per hour usage, India's AI model will cost less than less than Rs 100 per hour (1.16 US dollars per hour) after 40 percent government subsidy.
As suspense over who will become the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra continues, Nationalist Congress Party leader Chhagan Bhujbal on Sunday backed his party's chief, Ajit Pawar, for the top post.
Devendra Fadnavis, BJP legislature party leader, will be sworn-in as the new chief minister of Maharashtra on Thursday evening at a grand ceremony in Mumbai. NCP head Ajit Pawar and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde are also expected to take oath as deputy chief ministers. This is for the third time that Fadnavis will be sworn-in as the CM of Maharashtra. The swearing-in ceremony will be held at the Azad Maidan in south Mumbai, where elaborate security arrangements have been made. The formation of the government under Fadnavis comes after two weeks of intense negotiations following the November 20 state assembly polls. Fadnavis, joined by Shinde and Pawar, met with state Governor CP Radhakrishnan to formally stake claim to form the government. Following this meeting, the governor extended an invitation for Fadnavis to lead the new government. The swearing-in ceremony will be a grand affair with nearly 42,000 attendees, including PM Modi, several Union ministers, and chief ministers and deputy CMs of various states.
Electoral setbacks and thwarted ambition can have an unpredictable effect on leaders,, observes Aditi Phadnis.
Seemingly expressing his displeasure against ministers demanding three more deputy chief minister posts in Karnataka, state Congress president D K Shivakumar on Tuesday said the party would respond to them appropriately.
The meeting was attended by 26 participants including Chief Ministers and Lt Governors of UTs, he said while briefing the media.
Maharashtra's outgoing Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday said the Bharatiya Janata Party will decide on the new CM and assured his full support while ruling out differences among Mahayuti allies over the government formation.
BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar said the Mahayuti partners will meet Governor C P Radhakrishnan to stake a claim to form a government in the state.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Tuesday announced that the top 500 stocks will be eligible for the same-day settlement cycle (T+0) in a phased manner. This move is seen as a fresh push to ready the market ecosystem to speed up the settlement cycle, which currently stands at T+1.
Amid intense discussions among Mahayuti allies over the distribution of portfolios and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena's insistence on the home ministry, the clarity on the composition of the council of ministers is expected by Sunday, sources said.
Hours before the ceremony, Saini visited the Valmiki Bhawan and offered prayers at a gurdwara and the Mansa Devi temple in Panchkula.
The former chief minister asked if the election authorities would also inspect the bags of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior leaders.
Hours after Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar president Sharad Pawar said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi allies can not demand that a Leader of Opposition must be appointed as they do not have the required numbers, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Bhaskar Jadhav on Saturday claimed there is no provision in the law which talks about the appointment of the LoP in legislature merely on the strength of the party.
Omar Abdullah lost by 204,142 votes; Mehbooba Mufti by 281, 794 votes.
Violence erupted in the central Maharashtra city of Parbhani after a replica of the Constitution was vandalized. Around 50 people have been detained for the protests, while a man with mental health issues has been arrested for allegedly damaging the replica. Opposition leaders condemned the incident, calling for strict action against those responsible. The situation is under control, but tensions remain high in the city.
Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde on Tuesday stepped down as Maharashtra chief minister, even as the suspense over who will succeed him as the new CM continued, three days after state assembly election results were announced.
The development comes a day after a government resolution (GR) was issued, in which the state administration ordered disbursal of Rs 10 crore funds for strengthening the state Waqf Board.
An alleged attack on a Marathi-speaking family by a government employee in Thane district sparked outrage in the Maharashtra Assembly, where the BJP-led government assured justice and condemned the incident. Opposition parties demanded immediate action against the accused, Akhilesh Shukla, and his wife, who have been arrested. The incident has raised concerns about discrimination against Marathi people and fueled tensions in the state.
Discordant voices emerged on Sunday from the Mahayuti even as the alliance continued to remain in the throes of government formation more than week after it swept the Maharashtra assembly polls.
Ajit Pawar's NCP, a constituent of Mahayuti, was winning or leading in 41 of the 59 seats it contested as per the latest figures released by the Election Commission.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday assured his government will continue the Ladki Bahin Yojana and fulfil Mahayuti's pre-poll promise of hiking the monthly stipend under the scheme to Rs 2,100 from Rs 1,500 now to eligible women.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has declared that Chhattisgarh will be free from the menace of Naxalism by March 31, 2026. He stated that the Centre and the state government are committed to eradicating Naxalism, highlighting the significant achievements of the Chhattisgarh police in the last year. Shah also appealed to Naxalites to surrender and join the mainstream, emphasizing the government's rehabilitation policy. He further praised the Chhattisgarh police's efforts in curbing organized crime and narcotics.
The race for the Maharashtra Chief Minister post has intensified following the Mahayuti coalition's landslide victory in the state assembly polls. The Shiv Sena has backed Eknath Shinde for the top job, citing the Bihar model, while the BJP has thrown its weight behind Devendra Fadnavis, emphasizing his leadership qualities and understanding of the state. The BJP's preference for Fadnavis stems from its dominance in the alliance with 132 seats, compared to Shiv Sena's 57 seats. Amidst these developments, both parties have held meetings to discuss the matter, while Fadnavis and other BJP leaders have denied any dispute over the CM's post.
The meeting was convened in the backdrop of the ruling Mahayuti's below par performance in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections.
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