MEGA TWIST: Devendra Fadnavis WILL NOT join next Maharashtra govt led by Eknath Shinde

In a surprising turn of events in Maharashtra politics, Bharatiya Janata Party's Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde addressed a joint media briefing on Thursday where Fadnavis announced that Eknath Shinde will be the next Maharashtra Chief Minister with the BJP's support and that he, i.e. Fadnavis, will not join the next Maharashtra government. Shinde's swearing-in as Chief Minister will take place at 7:30 pm.

In his address to the media, Fadnavis said, "Eknath Shinde has made a claim to form the government. Our party has supported Eknath Shinde. At 7:30 pm, Eknath Shinde Ji will swear in as the next CM.  From our MLAs, opportunities will be given and there will be expansion. I will be out of the government, but it will be my responsibility too to see that this government runs." He further added that  If he wanted to go to the Centre, he could have gone anytime since 2019, but he has resisted all such attempts.

"In 2019, BJP and Shiv Sena had an alliance & we got required numbers in Assembly elections. We hoped to form the govt but Shiv Sena chose to get into an alliance with those against whom Balasaheb protested throughout his life," the ex-CM added. 

With Devendra Fadnavis eschewing a role in the Maharashtra government, there is also likely to be speculation about his next move. While a 'central role' has been touted for the last 2 years, Fadnavis has thus far refrained. The biggest clue so far was Fadnavis saying 'It will be my responsibility to see that this government runs.'

It is important to note that Maharashtra's Devendra Fadnavis has been the first Chief Minister of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the second to complete his full tenure after Vasantrao Naik.

Journey of Fadnavis as Maharashtra CM

In 2014, Fadnavis had taken over as the legislative party leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of the central observers - The then Home Minister Rajnath Singh and the party's then National General Secretary JP Nadda. Fadnavis was the leader of the largest party in the Maharashtra state assembly, therefore, he was appointed as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on 31 October 2014. The Fadnavis-led government had won a confidence motion by voice vote on 12 November, 2014.

Again in November 2019, Fadnavis formed a government with the help of Ajit Pawar of the NCP; however, the government could not last for too long as after NCP chief Sharad Pawar had announced that Ajit Pawar's decision to support the BJP was his own and not endorsed by the party.

Following this, the Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress had moved the Supreme Court regarding the discretion of the state governor to invite BJP to form a government. Shiv Sena had requested the apex court to order the new government to prove the majority in the state assembly. On 26 November 2019, the SC had ordered the new government to prove the majority, however, that very day, Ajit Pawar and Fadnavis resigned as Deputy Chief Minister and Chief Minister respectively. This led to Shiv Sena, NCP and INC to come together and form a new alliance, the Maha Vikas Aghadi. On November 28, the alliance formed a government in Maharashtra and made Udhhav Thackeray swear-in as the Chief Minister. 

Watch all the following developments here: