Devendra Fadnavis likely next Maharashtra CM; Eknath Shinde, Ajit Pawar expected deputies – official announcement soon

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Devendra Fadnavis is likely to be the next chief minister of Maharashtra. The incumbent CM, Eknath Shinde could be Deputy CM along with NCP leader Ajit Pawar.

The saffron party's top leadership has reportedly cleared the names of Fadnavis as CM and the other two deputy chief ministers, according to sources.

Eknath Shinde, who heads the Shiv Sena faction and Ajit Pawar, who lead the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) – the two Mahayuti factions – have approved of the arrangement for the next government, a report in Indian Express said quoting sources. The Shinde Sena will get 12 ministers and the NCP is likely to get 10 berths, sources said. 

Fadnavis will serve as Chief Minister for the first two-and-a-half years, after which Eknath Shinde will assume the role for the remainder of the term, according to a report in Dainik Bhaskar. Once Fadnavis steps down as Chief Minister, he is expected to be appointed the BJP's national president, the report said.

Shinde, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar–the three top alliance leaders – are meeting Home Minister Amit Shah, according to sources. A formal annoucement about the new government arrangement will be made after the meeting. The swearing-in will likely be organised in Mumbai on November 26.

Mahayuti alliance scripted a historic victory in Maharashtra assembly elections by winning 235 seats in the 288-member House. The BJP led the Mahayuti's victory by winning 132 seats – the highest among all allies. Shinde Sena won 57 seats and Ajit Pawar-led NCP won 41 seats in the election.

Shinde CM since June 2022

In June 2022 during political turmoil in Maharashtra, the BJP took a surprising decision and picked Eknath Shinde as the chief minister of Maharashtra.

The decision came after Shinde spearheaded a coup of sorts for the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government by rebelling, along with over 39 party lawmakers, who moved from Mumbai to Surat to Goa and finally back to Mumbai.