EKNATH SHINDE TO BE NEW MAHARASHTRA CHIEF MINISTER

(The Quiver): In a move that no one saw coming, rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde will take oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister at 7:30 pm today (Thursday, June 30), announced BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis.

#WATCH via ANI multimedia | Eknath Shinde to be the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra, says BJP leader Devendra Fadnavishttps://t.co/CzKrxlZtHY
— ANI (@ANI) June 30, 2022

Fadnavis, meanwhile, said he will stay out of the government and ensure that it runs smoothly.

“After the swearing-in ceremony today, we will have a cabinet expansion and Shiv Sena and BJP leaders will take the oath,” Fadnavis added.

We went to former CM Thackeray with our constituency's grievances & development work along with advising him on need for improvement as we started realizing that it would be difficult for us to win the next elections. We demanded for a natural alliance with BJP:Eknath Shinde pic.twitter.com/G8YkAvabT2
— ANI (@ANI) June 30, 2022

Speaking about the rebellion led by Eknath Shinde, Fadnavis said the Shiv Sena MLAs were demanding that the alliance with Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) should be ended but Uddhav Thackeray ignored these MLAs and gave priority to Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance partners.

The BJP leader said the Shiv Sena formed an alliance with those “who are against Hindutva & Savarkar”. Shiv Sena insulted the mandate of the people, he added.

Meanwhile, Shinde said today’s decision “is committed to Balasaheb’s Hindutva & for the development work in the constituencies of our MLAs”. We have 50 MLAs with us, he added.