Eknath Shinde relents, to take oath as Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister

Shiv Sena president Eknath Shinde would be taking oath as deputy chief minister of Maharashtra at the swearing-in ceremony here on Thursday evening, his party colleague Uday Samant announced.

BJP legislature party leader Devendra Fadnavis would take oath as chief minister, while Shinde and NCP chief Ajit Pawar would be sworn in as his deputies at the ceremony to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Samant’s announcement in the afternoon ended the uncertainty over Shinde’s role in the new Mahayuti government.

“Eknath Shinde is set to take oath as deputy chief minister. We had a discussion with Devendra Fadnavis, who provided us with a letter confirming that Shinde will join him as deputy CM. I am here to submit it to the governor,” Samant told reporters outside the Raj Bhavan before meeting Governor C P Radhakrishnan.

Shinde, who was chief minister in the previous Mahayuti coalition government, was reportedly not happy as he had to cede the top post to the ally BJP, and was reluctant to take the deputy CM post.

The formation of the new government comes after two weeks of intense negotiations following the November 20 state assembly polls and results on November 23.

Together with allies Shiv Sena and NCP, the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition has a commanding majority of 230 seats in the 288-member House.