Maharashtra Election: Mahayuti CM face? Devendra Fadnavis posters put up at BJP headquarters, says report

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis posters were reportedly put up at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters in Maharashtra on Wednesday, possibly suggesting that he may be the next chief minister if Mahayuti wins the upcoming Maharashtra Election.

Mahayuti – an alliance of the BJP, Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's NCP – hasn't announced its chief minister's face yet.

However, earlier this October, Fadavis hinted at Mahayuti's CM candidate. "...our chief minister is sitting here," Fadavis said in an event which was attended by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar. Though, he didn't take a name.

It was then speculated that Fadnavis was referring to Eknath Shinde when speaking about Mahayuti's CM. At the event, Eknath Shinde was quoted by Loksatta as saying, "We don't have anyone who is looking to become the Chief Minister...Our work is our face. The Mahavikas Aghadi should now decide the face of the leader of the opposition.”

The Maharashtra Assembly Elections will be held on November 30 and the results will be announced on November 23. The voting will happen in a single face.

The key fight will be between the Mahyuti and the Maha Aghadi Vikas – an alliance of the Congress, Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray).

However, a new challenge emerged in front of the Mahayuti alliance after the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction) fielded Nawab Malik as its candidate from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar, a seat that is already with the BJP leader Kirit Somaiya, pushing the case of Shiv Sena's Suresh Krishna Patil as the 'official' candidate on the same seat.

The Model Code of Conduct for the Maharashtra Assembly Election came into force on October 15, 2024. A total of 10,905 nomination papers have been submitted for the Maharashtra Assembly elections, representing 7,995 candidates across 288 constituencies, the Chief Electoral Officer's office stated.

As many as 1,648 complaints of violation of the code of conduct were received on the C-Vigil application from October 15 to 29, out of which 1,646 have been resolved by the Election Commission, the Chief Electoral Officer's office stated.

In the 2019 assembly elections, the BJP won 105 seats, the Shiv Sena 56, and the Congress 44. In 2014, the BJP secured 122 seats, the Shiv Sena 63, and the Congress 42.