In Maharashtra, the issue regarding the Chief Minister has almost been resolved, but issues like Deputy CM, Deputy Speaker and division of departments are still going on. It is being said that for this reason the official announcement of the name of the Chief Minister may take a long time of 2 to 3 days. In fact, there is a plan to call a meeting of the legislature party only after the Mahayuti alliance resolves all the issues.
The name of the Chief Minister will be officially selected in the legislative party meeting itself. According to sources, a consensus has been reached on the name of Devendra Fadnavis for the post of CM, but the remaining issues are still to be resolved.
In the recent elections of Maharashtra Assembly, Mahayuti has won about 230 seats out of 288, which is much more than the magic figure of 145.
Will Shinde become Deputy CM?
The first problem is regarding Eknath Shinde. It is being discussed whether the outgoing Chief Minister of Maharashtra Eknath Shinde will become the Deputy CM in the new government. When the Mahayuti government was formed in 2022, Eknath Shinde was made the Chief Minister and Devendra Fadnavis was made the Deputy Chief Minister. Later Ajit Pawar also got the command of Deputy CM.
At present there is also talk of making two Deputy CMs along with one CM. BJP has got the chair of CM. Ajit Pawar is also satisfied with the post of Deputy CM, but the matter is not being resolved regarding Shinde.
It is being said that Eknath Shinde can also make his MP son Shrikant the Deputy CM. By taking this decision, Eknath Shinde wants to give two political messages simultaneously.
1. Shiv Sena (UBT) has elected Aditya Thackeray as the leader of the legislature party. Aditya is Uddhav’s son and this is also being seen as a generation shift. Shinde also wants to establish his son firmly in Maharashtra politics by giving him a post. Till now Shrikant is doing politics of Delhi only.
2. Eknath Shinde has been CM and does not want to get himself demoted. To keep his decision historic, he does not want to become Deputy CM. Shinde’s government had started the Ladki Bahin Yojana, the impact of which was also visible in Maharashtra.
Trouble over Deputy Speaker too
In 2019, NCP got the post of Deputy Speaker. Narhari Jirwal was made the deputy speaker. This time the political scenario has changed. BJP has become the number one party. Shinde’s Shiv Sena is at second position. BJP will keep the post of Speaker. In such a situation, Shinde Sena has a claim on the post of Deputy Speaker.
However, Ajit is also seeking the post of Deputy Speaker for himself. A final decision has to be taken on this also. Generally, there is a tradition of giving the post of Deputy Speaker to the opposition, but for a long time, Indian political parties give this post to their allies.
The issue of division of departments became complicated
There is a big problem regarding two departments in Maharashtra. First is finance and second is home. It is being said that this time BJP wants to keep both the departments with itself. Eknath Shinde has his eyes on Home and Ajit Pawar has his eyes on Finance Department.
Shinde was laying claim on the logic of giving the Home department to the Deputy CM in the previous government. Devendra Fadnavis got the command of Deputy CM in Eknath Shinde’s government.
Ajit Pawar was the Finance Minister in the previous government, but this time there seems less chance of him getting this post. According to the information coming out so far, NCP can be given departments like agriculture, irrigation and food supply.
BJP will keep finance, home, personnel and revenue with itself. There is talk of giving urban development and public works portfolio to Shinde Sena.
Formula to form government in Maharashtra
A total of 43 ministers can be made in the Maharashtra government. Currently NDA has about 230 MLAs. In this context, there is a possibility of about 5 MLAs getting one ministerial post.
BJP can accommodate small parties with its quota. Ajit Pawar has 41 MLAs. He can get maximum 8 ministerial posts. Whereas the demand of Shinde Sena, which won 57 seats, is 12 ministerial posts.