Maharashtra government formation Highlights: Fadnavis arrives in Delhi amid suspense over CM face

Shiv Sena leader Raju Waghmare said the Mahayuti alliance contested and won the assembly election by projecting chief minister Eknath Shinde because of his "popularity".

"The popularity of Eknath Shinde has contributed 30-40% to the votes. Just like in cricket, the captain is not changed, we should also not change our captain. This is our wish, but whatever is decided by the Mahayuti leadership is acceptable to us,"

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis arrived in Delhi to meet the BJP's central leadership amid suspense over the Mahayuti's next CM face in the state.

Ajit Pawar's casual encounter with Rohit Pawar did not sit well with Ram Shinde, the BJP candidate who lost the Karjat Jamkhed contest to Rohit Pawar by a wafer-thin margin of 1,243 votes.

Ram Shinde, a former cabinet minister and current MLC, picked on Ajit Pawar's "Had I campaigned...." remarks to raise allegations of a secret pact.

“I suspect a clandestine agreement between the Pawars, regardless of their affiliations with different political parties. I feel I was sacrificed in their pre-planned tactics,” Shinde told reporters in Mumbai. (PTI)

Women from chief minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena performed a maha aarti at the Siddhivinayak temple at Daulat Nagar in the East Kopri area of Thane, praying for his selection as the chief minister in the new legislative assembly. (Photo by Praful Gangurde/HT)

The Mahayuti alliance won 21 of 29 Scheduled Caste-reserved and 21 of 24 Scheduled Tribe-reserved seats in the Maharashtra assembly election.

Of the 21 ST seats, the BJP won 10, Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena won 6, and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP won 5.

Among the MVA partners, the Congress won two ST seats, while the CPI(M) secured one.

Of the 21 SC-reserved seats won by the Mahayuti in 2024, 9 went to the BJP, 5 to the Shiv Sena and 6 to the NCP. One seat was won by Jan Surajya Shakti.

Of the 8 SC-reserved seats won by the MVA, the Congress bagged 4, while the NCP (SP) and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) got 2 each.

Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar took a jibe at NCP-SP leader Rohit Pawar on Monday, saying if he had campaigned in his nephew's assembly constituency, it would have been challenging for the latter to secure a victory.

The senior Pawar congratulated his nephew and asked him to come take his blessings and touch his feet. He said, “Come, take my blessings. You barely survived (in retaining the seat). Had I held a rally (in Karjat Jamkhed), imagine what would have happened.” Read more

Shiv Sena (UBT)'s new leader in the legislative assembly, Bhaskar Jadhav, said he wanted Aaditya Thackeray in his position inside the new assembly.

"I wanted Aaditya Thackeray to be on this post, but Uddhav Thackeray asked me to take this post as I have many years of experience and can guide the party leaders. Looking at what has happened in the election, I can say, ‘Daal mein kuch kala hai’," said Jadhav.

58 candidates lost in the November 20 Maharashtra assembly election despite securing over 1 lakh votes. Prominent among them include former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, and senior Congress leaders Balasaheb Thorat and Dhiraj Deshmukh among others, the ECI data shows.

Sunil Tingre (NCP), Sangram Thopte and Dhiraj Deshmukh (both from Congress), and Ram Shinde (BJP) also narrowly missed out on victory despite substantial voter support. (PTI)

Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde said that the process for government formation is underway in the state after the Mahayuti's landslide victory. The MP also said their focus on development over the past 2.5 years earned them the people's “support and affection”.

“This is the first time an alliance has received such a large number of votes. Further decisions will be made in consultation with the BJP central leadership,” he said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Anand Dubey expressed confidence in the party's electoral bounce back under Aaditya Thackeray's leadership.

The party, in a meeting headed by Uddhav Thackeray, chose its legislative leader and chief whip for the new Maharashtra assembly.

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said pre-election trends in the state were in favour of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

“Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and other national and state leaders were leading Maha Vikas Aghadi from the forefront during the Assembly polls. So, we were sure that the trends were in favour of Maha Vikas Aghadi, even the citizens believed that,” said Patole after meeting the Congress president in Delhi.

Shiv Sena leader and newly elected MLA from Aurangabad West Sanjay Shirsat asked the MVA to stop blaming EVMs and accept defeat in the assembly election.

“If the EVM was hacked, then why was it not hacked in the Lok Sabha elections which are the most important? One should learn to accept defeat with an open heart,” said Shirsat.

The MLA said the party MLAs would accept “any” decision of chief minister Eknath Shinde on the chief ministerial face. “Three senior leaders of the parties will sit and whichever name comes forward, will get everyone's support. There will be no rift among us,” he added.

Shiv Sena (UBT)'s mouthpiece Saamana reminded chief minister Eknath Shinde of his promise to leave politics if any of the rebel MLAs, who sided with him during the party's split in 2022, lost the assembly elections in the state.

In an article in mouthpiece 'Saamana', the Uddhav Thackeray-led party reminded Shinde that five of the 40 MLAs who were with him in Guwahati in 2022 had lost in the recent assembly polls, results of which were declared on November 23. It said Sada Sarvankar had lost from Mahim, Yamini Jadhav from Byculla, Shahaji Bapu Patil from Sangola, Sanjay Raymulkar from Mehkar and Dnyanraj Chowgule from Umarga. (PTI)

The Congress on Monday demanded that the Election Commission take action against IPS officer Rashmi Shukla for allegedly violating the model code of conduct during the Maharashtra assembly elections by meeting Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

The Congress's chief spokesperson, Atul Londhe, claimed Shukla met Fadnavis, the state home minister, when the model code of conduct was in place.

The IPS officer reportedly met Fadnavis at his official residence on the evening of November 23, the day votes were counted. (PTI)

Shiv Sena (UBT) elected Aaditya Thackeray as its legislature party leader in the presence of party chief Uddhav Thackeray.

MLA Bhaskar Jadhav was elected as the leader of the party in the Legislative Assembly. The party continued with Sunil Prabhu as its chief whip in the new assembly.

Actress Kangana Ranaut said the people of Maharashtra voted for Prime Minister Narendra Modi despite the Mahayuti not declaring a chief ministerial candidate.

“The entire country is trusting the leadership of the Prime Minister and BJP. Whether it is the Lok Sabha elections or Vidhan Sabha elections, everywhere the BJP workers and our leadership have formed a complete combination. India wants PM Narendra Modi to lead them everywhere. Whether there is a CM face or not, people vote for PM Modi,” said Ranaut, an MP from Mandi.

Maharashtra government formation Live Updates: After numerous claims of EVM manipulation, Baramati MP Supriya Sule and Karnataka deputy chief minister, among others, will be holding a discussion in Delhi.

"I will speak with Congress. I am going to the INDIA alliance meeting now. We need some evidence for all this. We are working on it; we will do it," NCP-SP's Supriya Sule told ANI.

DK Shivakumar stated, "G Parameshwara also commented on that (EVM hack). Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders are also commented. I am also going to Delhi in a few days. We will also discuss this; it is a part of national importance. The world is also looking at it. Let us all examine."

Maharashtra government formation Live Updates: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using paper ballots, citing irregularities in EVMs.

Raut alleged that nearly 450 complaints had been filed about EVMs malfunctioning but no action was taken.

"How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.

Raut gave the example of a candidate in Nashik who reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies.

Maharashtra government formation Live Updates: Manoj Shinde, a Congress rebel who ran as an independent candidate against Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in the recent state assembly elections, has joined the Shiv Sena.

Shinde, who was suspended by Congress for refusing to withdraw his nomination from the Kopri-Pachpakhadi seat, officially joined the Shiv Sena on Sunday.

In an interview with PTI, Manoj Shinde expressed his dissatisfaction with Congress leadership, particularly criticizing the party’s neglect of the Thane and Konkan regions.

Maharashtra government formation Live Updates: Ajit Pawar on Monday said that there was no formula in the decision on choosing the next CM for Maharashtra.

"There is no formula being discussed. We three (allies) will sit together and discuss on CM's post," he said.

Maharashtra government formation Live Updates: NCP chief Ajit Pawar asked his nephew Rohit Pawar to touch his feet because he was "saved" by a very thin margin while winning the Karjat Jamkhed seat.

Rohit Pawar, who is a member of the NCP-SP won the Karjat Jamkhed seat in the Maharashtra assembly polls.

In response Ajit Pawar asked Rohit to touch his feet and said, “You were saved by a thing margin...think what would happen if I had taken a public meeting (rally) there...best of luck.”

Maharashtra government formation Live Updates: The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) is at risk of losing its status as a recognised political party and its railway engine poll symbol after its poor performance in the recently concluded state assembly election, where it failed to win even one seat.

Maharashtra government formation Live Updates: National Congress Party (NCP) working president Praful Patel on Sunday announced that Ajit Pawar has been elected as the leader of the party.

"Today a meeting of the NCP's newly elected MLAs was held. We welcomed all the MLAs and we also elected Ajit Pawar as the leader of the party...We also appealed to him to take further decisions regarding the party...," he said.

Maharashtra government formation Live Updates: Veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh accused the BJP of manipulating Targeted Polling Booths through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) to win the assembly election in Maharashtra.

"The results of the Maharashtra elections appeared whatever the BJP wanted. They fielded 148 candidates out of which 132 won, having a success strike rate of 89 per cent. If they (BJP) want, they can form a government even without SS (Shinde) and NCP (Ajit Pawar). BJP has won this election by manipulating Targeted Polling Booths through EVM," he said in a post on X.