Maharashtra CM News Highlights: NDA never had difference of opinions, says Fadnavis

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Shirsat on Wednesday said that the next Maharashtra chief minister should be from Shiv Sena.

"We want the CM to be from Shiv Sena. We fought the election under the leadership of CM Eknath Shinde and I believe that the top leaders will also bless him..You will be able to see the new government in Maharashtra maximum by December 2. The swearing-in ceremony will be organised on a grand scale and I think it will be likely held at the Wankhede stadium," news agency ANI quoted Shirsat as saying.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the biggest winner with 132 seats out of the 288-member Maharashtra assembly, while its allies--the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde and the NCP led by Ajit Pawar – won 57 and 41 seats, respectively.

The Maharashtra assembly elections were held on November 20, and the results were declared on November 23.

Asked about reports of internal rift within the NDA alliance in Maharashtra, BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar recalled lines from a song of the Bollywood film Sholay and said ‘ye dosti hum nahi todenge’.

"The CM will be from Mahayuti. I don't think there is any haste. When the incumbent government is of one party and the elected government is of another party, there is haste...We still have our government in power, it just has to be renewed. So, I don't see a need for haste, we are working...Senior leaders (from Delhi) will come, there will be a meeting of Parliamentary Board," he said.

Amid buzz over the CM post, Eknath Shinde will address a press conference shortly.

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Shirsat told news agency ANI, "We want the CM to be from Shiv Sena. We fought the election under the leadership of CM Eknath Shinde and I believe that top leaders will also bless him... You will be able to see the new government in Maharashtra maximum by December 2. The swearing-in ceremony will be organised on a grand scale, so I think it is likely to be held at the Wankhede Stadium."

Maharashtra CM News Live: Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde to address press at 3 pm, amid suspense over who will be Maharashtra's next chief minister.

Maharashtra CM News Live: The swearing in ceremony could be held in Wankhede stadium for the new CM said, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Shirsat.

Shirsat spoke to reporters and added that he wanted Eknath Shinde to be CM again.

“We want the CM to be from Shiv Sena. We fought the election under the leadership of CM Eknath Shinde and I believe that top leaders will also bless him,” he said.

Maharashtra CM News Live: In the recently concluded Maharashtra assembly elections, 94 out of 106 candidates contesting in six constituencies of Latur district lost their security deposits, as they received less than one-sixth of the total valid votes, according to an analysis of the post-result data. Surprisingly, some of these candidates failed to secure even 100 votes. The six assembly constituencies in Latur district are Latur City, Latur Rural, Ausa, Nilanga, Udgir, and Ahmedpur-Chakur.

Maharashtra CM News: Congress MP Rajeev Shukla said on Wednesday, that VVPA slips should be counted to verify the votes.

“If there is a doubt regarding EVMs, it is the Election Commission’s duty to clear that doubt for the country’s benefit. The solution is simple. Let the EVMs remain for voting, but the VVPAT slip should be given to the voters so they can verify it and then submit it in a box. Get the VVPAT slip counted wherever the people are complaining about vote counting. It will take a maximum of 12-14 hours more...,"he said

Maharashtra CM News Live: BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule questioned the MVA on why it is raising concerns about EVMs now and asked them to introspect on their loss instead.

“They are just creating a mess and instead of blaming the EVMs, they should introspect on why they lost. They will lose the elections in the future also if they keep doing this,” he said.

Maharashtra CM News Live: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on Wednesday questioned the BJP about why it wouldn't announce the new chief minister.

Speaking to ANI, Chaturvedi said, “If Devendra Fadnavis' name has been finalised, then announce it quickly; what is stopping you? Why are you depriving the people of Maharashtra of the promises made to them?”

She added, "They are so power hungry…its been days since the election came and yet the results have not been announced."

Maharashtra CM News Live: BJP leader Dinesh Sharma told reporters that the issue for the Congress was not EVMs but poor leadership.

He said, “I think that the problems they (INDIA bloc) see in EVM, is actually in them. The real problem is in their policies, intensions, leadership. This is why they lose in elections, they do not lose because of EVMs. They should re-think their leadership.”

Maharashtra CM News Live: RLM Chief Upendra Kushwaha told reporters that the BJP will make a decision on who should be the next chief minister in Maharashtra.

"In Maharashtra, the BJP is the biggest party in the alliance, so it has to be taken by the BJP. It is up to the BJP to decide."

Maharashtra CM News Live: BJP MP Ashok Chavan told reporters on Wednesday that it had only been 4 days since the results came out and that there was no delay in announcing the chief minister.

He also said, "There is an alliance of three parties. Therefore, a decision will be taken only after taking everyone into confidence. A stable government will be formed."

Maharashtra CM News Live: On EVMs, Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan told news agency ANI, “A campaign should definitely be run, there is something fishy in the results that are coming, we will not blame anyone but we all want that it should come on the ballot paper.”

Maharashtra CM News Live: As the Model Code of Conduct ceased to be in effect, Senior IPS officer Rashmi Shukla on Tuesday resumed her role as the Maharashtra DGP.

The order reinstating Shukla as the director general of police was issued by the state home department on Monday evening.

Shukla was removed from the post based on ECI directives. Sanjay Kumar Verma had taken over as the state's top police officer in the absence of Shukla.

Maharashtra CM News Live: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday demanded the replacement of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with ballot papers after the party's defeat in the Maharashtra assembly elections.

During a speech at the Constitution Day program at Talkatora stadium he said, “Votes of people from SC, ST, OBC, poor communities are being wasted. Set aside EVMs. We do not want EVMs; we want voting on ballot paper...Let them keep the machine at their home, at the home of PM Modi or Amit Shah...Then we would know where you (BJP-NDA) stand.”

Maharashtra CM News Live: NCP-SP leader Clyde Crasto on Wednesday accused the BJP of using Eknath Shinde to win the elections and said it was an injustice to not give him the post of chief minister now.

Crasto told ANI, “The whole issue of who is going to be the next Maharashtra CM is turning out to be a big question. During the elections, the BJP always said that they were contesting the elections with Eknath Shinde as the face of Mahayuti. Now when the time has come and he has also performed, and it is the time to make him the CM again, the party is talking about the Bihar model not being there and other issues. This clearly means they are using Eknath Shinde.”

Maharashtra CM News Live: A BJP leader, who wished to remain anonymous, told news agency PTI that the party would not announce the candidate for chief minister until the distribution of ministerial portfolios was finalised.

"The central leadership is in no hurry to name a candidate for the chief minister's post. We have secured a decisive mandate, and the priority now is to work out a comprehensive plan for government formation which includes finalising ministerial portfolios and distribution of key posts such as district guardian ministers," the leader reportedly said.

Maharashtra CM News Live: Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan stated on Tuesday that people across most states in the country have completely rejected what he called the Congress' "shop of illusion, lies, and deception."

In a post on X, Pradhan said, "Maharashtra has become the 17th state where the Congress has less than 10 per cent of MLAs. The people of many states, including Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bengal, Delhi, and Tripura, have completely rejected Rahul Gandhi and the Congress," he said.

Maharashtra CM News Live: The Maharashtra chief electoral officer slammed the "inaccurate and mischievous" report on a news website about "additional votes" in the state assembly polls and "mismatch" in two assembly constituencies.

In a letter to the news site they said, “The report has attempted to mislead readers by mischievously comparing two different parameters, as the report has included 5,38,225 postal ballots in the votes counted which was not part of the votes polled data released.”

It said the results portal of the Election Commission of India (ECI) clearly displays "EVM votes" and "counted valid postal votes" separately for each assembly constituency.

Maharashtra CM News Live: Shiv Sena leader Shambhuraj Desai said on Tuesday that whatever decision Ajit Pawar, Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde came to, the Mahayuti MLAs would respect it.

“Every party feels that a leader of their own party should get the CM post. If you ask me, as a Shiv Sainik, I would say that our main leader, Eknath Shinde,should get the CM post. The same goes for BJP leaders who want Devendra Fadnavis to get the post...But all three leaders will sit together and discuss. A solution would come out after discussions,” he told ANI.

Maharashtra CM News Live: Union minister Ramdas Athawale showed his support for Devendra Fadnavis, stating that the people of Maharashtra wanted him as their next chief minister.

He also suggested that Shiv Sena's Eknath Shinde could be deputy chief minister or a union minister.

Adressing the deadlock he said, “When Eknath Shinde came to know that the BJP high command has finalised Devendra Fadnavis as the CM (of Maharashtra), he is a bit unhappy, which I can understand. But, BJP has got 132 seats and hence I think there have to make a way. Devendra Fadnavis should be made the CM."