Who Will Be The Next Chief Minister Of Maharashtra? It's Devendra Fadnavis

Devendra Fadnavis will take oath as the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra, the party announced on Wednesday. The decision was made at the legislature party meeting today.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani were appointed as central observers for the crucial meeting, which saw the selection of the BJP's legislature party leader.

The party has chosen Ashish Shelar as the chief whip of Maharashtra BJP.

The oath-taking ceremony will take place at Azad Maidan in Mumbai in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior leaders, marking the official beginning of the new Mahayuti government.

Responding to the development, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said, "We all fought a historical election in the leadership of Devendra Fadanvis and we won a historic mandate for Mahayuti. We are committed to taking Maharashtra to the number one position with the help of PM Modi. We should thank crores of the people of Maharashtra that we contested 149 seats and won 132 which is the highest in history. Our allies also won 57 and 41 seats. 7 MLAs have also given support to us so we will have 237 Mahayuti members in this Assembly..."

Mahayuti Leaders to Stake Claim Today
Leaders of the Mahayuti alliance, comprising the BJP, Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar's NCP faction, are set to meet Governor C P Radhakrishnan at 3:30 pm today to formally stake their claim to form the government.

"After the meeting at Vidhan Bhavan, all Mahayuti leaders will head to the Raj Bhavan to submit their claim," BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar told PTI. Adding to the anticipation, BJP MLA Ram Kadam stated, "You will hear good news soon. The BJP legislature party leader will be someone the entire state wishes to see as Chief Minister."

Power-Sharing Formula Finalized
Although the alliance has not yet formally announced the full Cabinet lineup, sources confirm that the distribution of ministerial berths has been settled. A power-sharing formula will allocate one ministerial post for every six MLAs a party has, according to a report in NDTV.

This formula translates to 20-22 ministerial posts for the BJP, given its 132 seats. The Shiv Sena is expected to receive 12 positions, while Ajit Pawar's NCP faction is likely to secure 9-10 posts.

A Resounding Mandate
The Mahayuti alliance secured a commanding majority in the November 20 Assembly elections, winning 230 out of 288 seats. The BJP emerged as the largest party with 132 seats, followed by Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's NCP faction.

With Fadnavis set to return to the Chief Minister's office, the Mahayuti government is poised to take charge of Maharashtra's administration and deliver on its electoral promises.