MUMBAI : In an overnight turn of events, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stunned its rivals by forming government under the leadership of Devendra Fadnavis, in the small hours of Saturday morning.
The tide flipped in favour of BJP after a faction of National Congress Party(NCP) broke away under Sharad Pawar’s newphew Ajit Pawar, to join BJP,in the last moment.
The twist is dramatic, given that NCP Chief Sharad Pawar had yesterday announced that the new Maharashtra govt will be led by Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.
“I am happy to have been given another chance to serve as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. The people of Maharashtra gave a very clear mandate, but Shiv Sena, which fought the elections alongside us rejected people’s mandate”, said Fadnavis. “The President’s Rule will end now,” he added.
The BJP and Shiv Sena fought state elections in alliance and secured 105 and 56 seats respectively in the 288-member Assembly. However discord erupted after BJP refused to cede Sena’s demand of sharing CM post. Shiv Sena snapped ties and turned to Congress and NCP that won 44 and 54 seats respectively. Meanwhile with Assembly term over, the state went under President's Rule. Shiv Sena and its newly found friends, engaged in days-long deliberations and came to a consensus to reserve Chief Ministership for Uddhav Thackeray - an alignment upturned by today's developments.
