Maharashtra CM highlights: Mahayuti leaders meet Amit Shah to discuss power sharing

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said people of the country will never forgive those who stole their mandate, a reference to the Mahayuti's victory in the recently held Maharashtra assembly polls.

Raut put a post on his X handle along with a poster, which said, "Jiska EVM, uski democracy", which means democracy belongs to those who control Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). "The country will never forgive those who stole people's mandate. Wait and watch what happens next," the Sena (UBT) MP said in the post.

Outgoing Chief Minister Eknath Shinde met Amit Shah in Delhi ahead of the meeting of the Mahayuti coalition. The Shiv Sena leader, who arrived from Mumbai, drove straight to Shah's Krishna Menon Marg residence, where BJP president J P Nadda was already present.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar met Union Home Minister Amit Shah here on Thursday night to thrash out a power-sharing pact in the state where the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance romped home to a landslide victory in the assembly elections.

Fadnavis, a former chief minister under whose leadership the BJP crossed the 100-seat mark for the third consecutive time in the 288-member state assembly, is considered the frontrunner for the top executive post in Maharashtra.

NCP chief and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said a decision on ministerial berths for the alliance partners -- BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP -- will be decided at the meeting with Shah on Thursday night.

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Thursday demanded that the ECI clarify the rise in voter turnout by over 7 per cent after polling for the assembly elections ended on November 20 evening.

Addressing a press conference here, Patole said the “discrepancies” in polling figures put a question mark on the functioning of the Election Commission of India.

Patole claimed that the voting percentage was 58.22 at 5 pm but rose by 7.83 percentage points at 11.30 pm.

Bharatiya Janata Party co-incharge in Himachal Pradesh, Sanjay Tandon hit out at the Congress party on Thursday, saying that the latter is losing elections due to poor management by their leadership and not because of EVMs.

While addressing the party's state level organisation festival meeting, he retorted to the questions on EVMs raised by Congress president Mallikharjun Kharge.

"Congress had to face a crushing defeat in the Maharashtra assembly elections not because of EVMs, but because of the poor management of its leadership. Kharge to change Rahul, not EVMs. He should consider bringing someone else in his place," Tandon said during his speech.

Shiv Sena's Eknath Shinde, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis and NCP chief Ajit Pawar are set to meet Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday, November 28, to discuss who will be the next chief minister of Maharashtra.

Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde are considered top contenders for the chief minister's position, though no official decision has been made yet.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi took a dig at the ruling Mahayuti alliance regarding the delay in announcing the Chief Minister designate as the coalition is set to form government for another term following their win in the recent assembly elections in Maharashtra.

Speaking to ANI on Thursday, Priyanka Chaturvedi said, "Earlier we got the news that Devendra Fadnavis is the final CM face. But then, Eknath Shinde says that he will accept the decision of the PM. If the decision has been made, then why are they not announcing the decision? We want them to announce the CM's name soon."

Bharatiya Janata Party former MP Navneet Rana hit out at Shiv Sena (UBT) on Thursday, saying that the party leaders seem to always be upset regardless of which party they ally with.

She took a jibe at the recent comments made by Shiv Sena (UBT)'s leader Sanjay Raut on the party workers discussing whether they should have fought the assembly polls independently.

"Uddhav Thackeray's party leaders say, if they had fought alone, they would have got more seats. I think his party is always upset in alliance. When it gets more seats by being with BJP, it is upset and when it gets less seats then also they can't digest the fact," the BJP leader said.

Maharashtra caretaker CM Eknath Shinde's son Shrikant said he is proud of his father for setting an example of following the "alliance dharma" by setting aside personal ambition. The remarks come after the Shiv Sena supremo agreed to step aside from the state's top post if Prime Minister Narendra Modi and NDA leader Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) decides so. Read full story here

Maharashtra CM Live Updates: Bhupesh Bagel, former Chattisgarh chief minister told reporters on Wednesday that the assembly election results in Haryana, Chattisgarh and Maharashtra were unacceptable.

He added, “Serious questions are being raised on EVMs. We demand that the slip that comes out of the EVM after a voter casts the vote should be given to the voter itself. Neither the Election Commission of India nor the Supreme Court of India should have any problem with it.”

Maharashtra CM Live Updates: BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis has left for Delhi where all the alliance leaders of the Mahayuti, including acting CM Eknath Shinde and NCP chief Ajit Pawar, will hold a final discussion with home minister Amit Shah.

Maharashtra CM Live Updates: Shiv Sena UBT MP Arvind Sawant has shown support for the demand for ballot papers instead of electronic voting machines.

He also added that the BJP also used to request ballot papers.

"BJP themselves used to demand this. This is not our demand alone, this time the demand is so high because the result (of Maharashtra) that came this time was unimaginable. There is proof. Errors have been found," he said.

Maharashtra CM Live Updates: Shiv Sena leader Shaina NC on Thursday said that looking at the work done by caretaker CM Eknath Shinde during his tenure, he should have been the "natural choice" for leading the state government once again.

"The strike rate of all three parties has been so stupendous that every party will want its leader to become the chief minister. But we feel that the way Eknath Shinde has worked on the ground, without any allegation and for the common man and led us to victory, he should have been the natural choice," she told ANI.

She also applauded his “dignity” for stating that he will respect the choice made by the BJP high command.

Maharashtra CM Live Updates: Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde, in a post on X, exuded pride in father and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde for his contribution towards the victory of the Mahayuti alliance.

In his post he said, “I am very proud of my father and our Shiv Sena Chief Leader Mr. Shri Eknathji Shinde Saheb. His unwavering commitment to Maharashtra and its people is unparalleled. He worked tirelessly day and night. Earned their love, trust and appreciation by serving selflessly to every section of the society. They consider themselves as 'CM' meaning 'Common Man'. He opened the doors of Varsha Bangla to common people and created a new history in public service.”

He also praised his father for upholding ‘alliance dharma’ instead of personal ambitions.

Maharashtra CM Live Updates: Shiv Sena leader Shaina NC criticised former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, stating that the public had given a "befitting answer" to those who abandoned their ideology for power.

Speaking to ANI on Thursday, she said that the Mahayuti alliance, comprising her party, BJP, and Ajit Pawar's NCP, was here to stay and would work for the state's people.

She also questioned the relevance of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) after the Mahayuti alliance's success in the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections, adding that Uddhav Thackeray's departure from MVA would make no difference.

Maharashtra CM Live Updates: Senior BJP leader and top contender for the CM post, Devendra Fadnavis said on Wednesday that the decision on selecting the Maharashtra cabinet will be taken by the next chief minister after his name is finalised.

Maharashtra CM Live Updates: Senior Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar, stated that even Congress workers wanted to fight elections alone, in response to several Shiv Sena (UBT) workers who had mentioned that they felt their party should have contested independently.

However, Wadettiwar added "That cannot be the decision of the party. We are in the process of analysing the result and causes of our defeat. Even during the peak of the Modi wave, we performed better than the present outcome and it is because of this we have doubts about EVMs."

Maharashtra CM Live Updates: BJP MP Ashok Chavan told news agency ANI that after their loss in the assembly elections, Shiv Sena (UBT) is less likely to contest with the Congress.

The BJP MP said, “Now when the results have come and people have rejected them (Shiv Sena UBT), then there is less possibility for them to contest together (with Congress).”

Maharashtra CM Live Updates: In response to rumours of a split in the MVA after their loss in the assembly elections, Sanjay Raut said the Shiv Sena (UBT) will not leave the MVA.

Raut admitted that workers felt that the party should have contested independently but added about disagreements with the MVA, “These are just rumours. We fought in an MVA alliance in Lok Sabha and it was a big thing to win such a huge number.”

Maharashtra CM Live Updates: BJP leader Ashish Deshmukh on Wednesday said that all the 16 newly-elected assembly members of the Congress in Maharashtra should join the BJP, claiming that their party has no future in the state.

"The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Mahayuti alliance won by a large margin and we saw the downfall of Congress in Maharashtra. This decline of Congress is happening everywhere," said Deshmukh, who won the election from Savner seat in Nagpur district.

Maharashtra CM Live Updates: Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule expressed his gratitude to ally Eknath Shinde on Wednesday for affirming that he would accept the decision of the top BJP leadership regarding the next chief minister of the state.

Speaking to reporters in Nagpur after Shinde, the caretaker chief minister, clarified his position, Bawankule criticized the opposition for attempting to spread rumors and question Shinde's character. "I want to thank Shinde for making his stance on the CM post clear today. He has taken a significant stand, and I am proud of him," the BJP leader remarked.

Maharashtra CM Live Updates: Following Maharashtra caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's comments on the CM post, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis stated on Wednesday that there has never been any disagreement within the Mahayuti alliance.

He emphasized that decisions are always made collectively. Fadnavis told the media, "There has never been any difference of opinion within our Mahayuti. We have always made decisions together, and we had previously stated that the decision regarding the CM's post would be taken collectively after the elections. Eknath Shinde ji has clarified any doubts today, and soon we will meet with our leaders to finalize the decision."

Maharashtra CM Live Updates: In the wake of Maha Vikas Aghadi's defeat in the Maharashtra assembly elections, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve said a section of workers feels the party should contest the future polls alone.

"There is a feeling among a large section of the party to contest the elections independently. It is immaterial whether Shiv Sena (UBT) gets power or not. The party was not born to seize power. It is a party that works on an ideology," Danve, said.

Maharashtra CM Live Updates: Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Wednesday, voiced his support for Devendra Fadnavis as the next chief minister of Maharashtra but emphasised that he would abide by the BJP "high command's" decision on the matter.

"The RPI (A), which is a BJP ally, feels Devendra Fadnavis should get an opportunity to become the Chief Minister again. However, if the high command decides to make Eknath Shinde the CM, we will back it," Athawale told reporters.