BJP’s Maharashtra chief ministerial candidate Devendra Fadnavis is scheduled to leave for Delhi to meet Union Minister Amit Shah to consult him on the distribution of portfolios in the soon-to-be sworn-in Mahayuti government.

The development has come after BJP MLAs lobbying for ministerial posts met Fadnavis at his posh Malabar Hill residence located in South Mumbai.

Reportedly, Amit Shah has asked for ‘report cards’ of the MLAs before he makes the final assessments. The leaders seen at the residence of Fadnavis on Monday included BJP MLAs like Chandrakant Patil, Rahul Narvekar, Girish Mahajan, and Madhuri Misal.

In a related development, the BJP has appointed Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani as the party’s Central observers to the Maharashtra BJP Legislature Party meeting scheduled to be held at the Central Hall of the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha on Wednesday (December 4), where Fadnavis is expected to be elected as its leader.

Nirmala Sitharaman and Vijay Rupani are likely to arrive in Mumbai on the night of Tuesday, December 3.

The swearing-in ceremony of the BJP-dominated Mahayuti government is scheduled at 5 pm evening on Thursday, December 5, at the historic Azad Maidan ground in Mumbai, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is expected to attend the event.

However, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) accused the BJP-backed Mahayuti parties of delaying the process of government formation. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray said, “They (Mahayuti allies) never thought they would come to power again. So, they had no plans about who would be the CM or the council ministers. This is why government formation is taking time.”

Uddhav-led Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut also attacked the Mahayuti saying, “The government formation process cannot be stuck just because of one post of home minister, after getting such a huge mandate. The BJP has formed governments in many states in the past. So, there seems to be something else this time. People are even asking if somebody else is being brought in to replace Fadnavis. If something doesn’t materialise by Tuesday, then we will open our cards”.

“Why are both Shinde and Fadnavis so adamant on controlling the home department? Is it to get the police’s salutes or to misuse the police machinery to file false cases against political opponents and strike terror? It was done in the past and could be repeated in the coming days,” Raut said.

Raut also asked why the BJP claimed that it will form the government though it has neither staked its claim to form any government so far nor received any invitation from the Maharashtra governor to form the government.