Devendra Fadnavis elected as leader of BJP in Maharashtra Assembly

Mumbai, Oct 30: A day after a massive war of words broke out between allies - the BJP and the Shiv Sena - in Maharashtra over power-sharing in the new government, Devendra Fadnavis has been elected as the leader of the BJP Legislature Party.

All the 105 newly-elected BJP MLAs were present at the meeting, where Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar and party vice president Avinash Rai Khanna were present as central observers. The meeting was held at Vidhan Bhawan in south Mumbai.

Tomar says no other name was proposed at the BJP legislature party meeting.

A turban-clan Fadnavis thanked party MLAs for reposing faith in him and giving him another chance to serve the state. He also thanked Sena president Uddhav Thackeray.

''This mandate is surely for 'mahayuti' (BJP-Shiv Sena alliance) as we sought votes for 'mahayuti'. People also voted for it. So there should be not doubt. It will be a 'mahayuti' govt,'' Fadnavis said.

The meeting came in the backdrop of the power sharing tussle between the BJP and Shiv Sena after results of the October 21 Assembly elections were declared on October 24. The Sena won 56 seats, NCP 54 and Congress 44 in the 288-member House.

Apart from the CM's chair, the BJP will also keep the portfolios of home, urban development and finance-revenue.

If Shiv Sena continues to play hardball, it may get more ministries, but not half of CM chair, sources said. The BJP is also open to offer the deputy CM post to the Sena.

Earlier on Tuesday, incumbent CM Devendra Fadnavis claimed that there was no 50:50 agreement between the BJP and the Shiv Sena. This claim ensued acrimonious bickering between the BJP and Shiv Sena as the latter claimed that the BJP had earlier agreed on the condition of making the CM post rotational: 2.5 years with the BJP and the Sena each.

The BJP-Shiv Sena meeting stood cancelled though BJP leader Chandrakant Patil said that party chief Amit Shah and Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will finalise the contours of the 50:50 formula, hinting that all is well between the allies.