Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray waves to the crowd, with his wife Rashmi by his side, outside the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) office building in Mumbai, India, Friday, Nov. 22, 2019. Uddhav will lead the next Maharashtra govt.
Uddhav Thackeray is set to become the next chief minister of Maharashtra. Ending speculations on the marathon discussion on the next government formation in Maharashtra, Nationalist Congress Party Chief Sharad Pawar on Friday announced the decision of Thackeray taking over reigns in the state. Pawar's announcement came after top leaders of Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP held deliberations till Friday evening in Mumbai's Nehru Center. Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray, Eknath Shinde, Subhash Desai, Sanjay Raut, Ahmed Patel, Mallikarjun Kharge, K C Venugopal, Avinash Pande, Balasaheb Thorat, Prithviraj Chavan (Congress), Praful Patel, Jayant Patil and Ajit Pawar were among those present in the meeting in South Mumbai.
The state is facing a political deadlock for almost a month now. Maharashtra Assembly Election results were announced on October 24. BJP had emerged as the single largest party with 105 seats while Shiv Sena bagged 56 seats. NCP has 54 and Congress has 44 MLAs in 288-member assembly. Shiv Sena, NCP, Congress combined has 154 seats, placing them with a comfortable majority.
TOP DEVELOPMENTS IN MAHARASHTRA
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)
Sharad Pawar on Friday announced that the new government in Maharashtra would be led by Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. "The issue of leadership is not pending. There are no two opinions on the issue of chief ministership. There was a consensus on Uddhav Thackeray leading the new government," he told reporters after the meeting. When asked if Thackeray, who is not yet a legislator, will be the new chief minister, Pawar shot back, "Don't you understand Hindi. The new government will be led by Uddhav Thackeray."
Congress
Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said positive discussions were held on government formation between Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP. He, however, dodged a question on Sharad Pawar's announcement on Uddhav Thackeray as Maharashtra CM. "All three parties had positive discussions about government formation. We have reached consensus on many issues but talks to continue tomorrow. Whatever Sharad Pawar ji has said is on record, I won't speak on that. What we have discussed all things, we will speak on them." Ahmed Patel, however, said the tripartite meeting was "inconclusive".
Shiv Sena
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray evaded questions on his name for Maharashtra Chief Minister. Earlier, reports had indicated that Uddhav was not keen on becoming chief minister of Maharashtra. Instead, he pushed for his son Aaditya's name. His name apparently found no takers.
