Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde addressed the media after meeting Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. Former Chief Minister Fadnavis announced that Eknath Shinde would be sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Devendra Fadnavis said he would stay out of the government. Only Eknath Shinde will be sworn in at 7.30 pm today.
Devendra Fadnavis said the people gave a majority to Maha Vikas Aghadi. The BJP-Shiv Sena contested the elections in an alliance, but the Shiv Sena formed a government with Congress and the NCP.
Fadnavis said it was the first time in the history of Maharashtra that two government ministers were in jail. This has never happened before. Balasaheb was always opposed to Dawood, but a minister in Uddhav Thackeray’s government had a relationship with Dawood. He was not removed from the ministry despite going to jail. This is an insult to Balasaheb.
“We have come together for the development of Maharashtra,” Shinde said. We had problems working in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. We told Uddhav Thackeray about this. We tried to explain our side. We had a natural alliance with the BJP. We moved forward with the ideas of Balasaheb Thackeray, and finally, some decisions were taken by the government on Hindutva.
“I thank Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah,” Shinde said. The BJP has shown a broad heart and made me the Chief Minister despite being a big party. Shinde claimed that Maharashtra would see a strong government shortly.