The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to lead the next Maharashtra government following its resounding victory in the recent Assembly elections. The new Chief Minister will be from the BJP, with two deputies likely to be chosen from Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena faction and Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
This arrangement mirrors the deal between the three parties leading up to the elections, though the BJP is now in a stronger position, having won 132 seats on its own and 235 seats in total with its allies. While the new Chief Minister has not yet been officially named, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, who previously held the position between 2014 and 2019, is widely seen as the front-runner. He briefly served again in 2019 after Ajit Pawar's attempted rebellion.
The Chief Minister's post was the subject of much speculation as the counting of votes on Saturday revealed the BJP’s clear victory. Despite this, Fadnavis and Shinde downplayed any internal rivalry, stressing that all three parties would sit together to decide the leadership. Shinde also assured that he would not be an obstacle to the decision made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating, “We will go with whatever he decides.”
Ahead of the formal announcement, Shinde, who was the Chief Minister in the current government, confirmed he would not stand in the way of the BJP’s choice. This effectively resolved doubts over a potential contest for the post. Shinde made it clear that he was “not greedy for any position” and that “no one is upset.”
The final decision on the Chief Minister and the two deputies will be made after a meeting between Fadnavis, Shinde, and Ajit Pawar with Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Earlier, some members of Shinde's faction had claimed that the BJP had promised them the Chief Minister’s post, harking back to the 2019 political turmoil when the Shiv Sena broke its alliance with the BJP over a similar disagreement. However, Shinde has since clarified that no such promise had been made.
Maharashtra politics has been tumultuous since 2019, with the Shiv Sena and NCP factions breaking away and later rejoining with the BJP, leading to the fall of Uddhav Thackeray's government. With the BJP set to form the next government, the political landscape of the state looks to be stabilizing under its leadership.