It's shocking: Sharad Pawar on BJP leadership picking Shinde to Fadnavis for CM post

New Delhi, Jun 30: NCP chief Sharad Pawar expressed his "shock" over the BJP's central leadership picking Shiv Sena's Eknath Shinde over its own Devendra Fadnavis for the post of Chief Minister post in Maharashtra.

He said that Shinde himself might not have expected to be made the Maharashtra CM. "I don't think that the one who led MLAs to Assam had expected more than the post of Dy CM. But in BJP, as per order- be it from Delhi or Nagpur -CM post has been given to Eknath Shinde...The person who was CM & LoP has been asked to take oath as Dy CM. It's shocking," news agency ANI quoted Sharad Pawar as saying.

Pawar felt that Fadnavis is not happy with the Deputy CM post and it was visible on his face, "But he had lived in Nagpur, it is his ethos as an (RSS) swayamsevak, so he accepted the position," the NCP leader said.

Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde was on Thursday sworn in as Maharashtra chief minister, while BJP's Devendra Fadnavis took oath as deputy chief minister.

Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administered the oath of office to them at Raj Bhavan in south Mumbai shortly after 7.30 pm.Mumbai, Jun 30: Eknath Shinde has become the fourth chief minister of Maharashtra to hail from Satara district.

Yashwantrao Chavan (the first CM of the state), Babasaheb Bhosale and Prithviraj Chavan are the other three Chief Minister from this district. NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who himself has roots in the western Maharashtra district, noted this in a tweet congratulating Shinde. While Shinde cut his teeth as a Shiv Sena leader in Thane near Mumbai, he hails from Dare Tamb village, 60 km from Satara city.