Amid the ongoing suspense over the selection of the chief minister of Maharashtra, the BJP on Monday appointed former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Union Finance Minister Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as the saffron party’s Central Observers for the state.

The Mahayuti alliance, which comprises the BJP, Shiv Sena (Shinde) and the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar), is yet to finalise its chief ministerial candidate despite marathon meetings among its constituents.

The Maharashtra Assembly election results were declared on November 23. In the recently concluded polls, the BJP emerged as the largest party, winning 132 seats in the 280-member Assembly, while its allies – the Shiv Sena, led by Eknath Shinde, and the NCP, led by Ajit Pawar – secured 57 and 41 seats, respectively.

Meanwhile, caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s son and Shiv Sena MP from Kalyan, Shrikant Shinde on Monday dismissed as ”baseless” the speculation that he has agreed to be the deputy chief minister in the new Mahayuti government.

”The news that I will be the Deputy Chief Minister has been given a question mark for the last two days. As a matter of fact, there is no truth in it and all the news about my post as Deputy Chief Minister is baseless and baseless,” he said in a social media post on ‘X’.

Shinde noted that the swearing-in ceremony of the grand coalition government has been a bit delayed, leading to a lot of discussion and rumours. He said the caretaker chief minister had gone to his village for two days to take rest due to ill health. As a result, the rumours flourished.

He said even after the Lok Sabha elections, he had a chance to become a minister in the central government. ”But I thought of working for the party organisation and refused the ministerial post even then. I have no desire for a position in power. I make it clear once again that I am not in the race for any ministerial position in the state,” he said, adding that he will work only for his Lok Sabha constituency and the Shiv Sena.

Shinde said while he could understand the enthusiasm and competition in the media, he requested them not to turn their backs on reality while reporting. ”A modest hope that the discussions about me will at least stop now,” he added.

On Sunday, Caretaker Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde had said the decision rested with the BJP, and assured his full support to the chosen candidate.

Eknath Shinde on Sunday returned to Mumbai from his native village in Satara, where he had gone to recuperate after a brief illness.

He was bestowed a ‘guard of honour’ by the Satara police after which he took the flight back to the state capital. Addressing mediapersons in his native village, Shinde said that the Mahayuti alliance’s chief minister candidate will be decided on Monday and reiterated that he has already given his “unconditional support” to the decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President JP Nadda. He also told mediapersons that he was in good health.