The shadow of 'Operation Lotus' which has allegedly been launched by the BJP seems to have grown larger after NCP (Sharad Pawar) MP Bajrang Sonawane met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday in Delhi, while seven Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena MPs met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.
This is the third time Fadnavis was sworn-in as the Maharashtra chief minister.
Notably, BJP's Devendra Fadnavis is all set to be sworn-in as the 21st chief minister of Maharashtra, which will be witnessed by chief ministers of 19 states, including former chief minister and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, who has also been invited to the historic ceremony.
Senior BJP leader and former Maharashtra minister Sudhir Mungantiwar stated here on Monday that Devendra Fadnavis would be the Maharashtra chief minister.
With suspense continuing over the chief ministership of Maharashtra, 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.
As per the normal schedule of events, a BJP national-level panel is expected to meet all the contenders to the Maharashtra CM's post after which Shah will take a final callabout who will be Maharashtra CM.
The BJP-backed Mahayuti's landslide victory in the Maharashtra assembly elections has surprised both the Mahayuti as well as the Congress-backed Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
The handsome victory for the Mahayuti in Maharashtra clearly suggests that the Narendra Modi magic continues to work for the NDA which trounced the Opposition alliance that was clearly a frontrunner in the battle at the hustings in India's wealthiest state just about five months back.
As per official Election Commission (EC) trends, the Mahayuti is set to form the government, with the BJP leading in 130 seats, followed by its allies Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) and NCP (Ajit Pawar faction), leading in 55 and 40 seats, respectively.
According to the Election Commission of India data, the BJP is leading in 39 seats, while the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena is ahead in 22. The Ajit Pawar-led NCP, also a partner in the Mahayuti, is leading in 19 seats.
