New Delhi: Till Friday morning, it appeared that the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress were just a few steps away from staking claim to form government in Maharashtra, but things took a U-turn in the afternoon. The three parties have still not been able to reach a consensus over who will given the chief minister's chair.
While it is clear that the CM will be from Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress are not in favour of the name being suggested by Uddhav's party for the top post. Pawar had urged Uddhav to be the CM but he seems to have rejected the proposal. Initially, Shiv Sena leaders also wanted their boss to get the CM's post but after he refused to take it up, most of the party leaders voted in favour of Eknath Shinde and meanwhile, Subhash Desai's name also cropped up.
Shinde, 55, is a Sena strongman and a mass leader. Age is also one of the factors in pushing his name for the top post and on the other hand, Sena wants to have a stronghold in Thane. Shinde is an MLA from Kopri-Pachpakhadi constituency of Thane and has also been appointed by the party to carry out development work in the district.
The NCP and Congress, however, are not keen on making Shinde the captain of the ship. They still want Uddhav to be the CM.
As per earlier discussions between the three parties, the CM post was given to Sena and it was decided that a leader each from NCP and Congress will become deputy CM. It is being said that leaders from the NCP and Congress, who are likely to be appointed deputy CMs are no in favour of working under Shinde or Desai.
After the current development, Uddhav is again chalking out strategies to form a stable government with NCP and Congress.
The Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress alliance will be called 'Maha Vikas Aghadi'. If all goes well, they are likely to stake claim to form the government on Saturday (November 23).
Maharashtra is now under President's Rule.
