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Eknath Shinde, the second contender for the post of the Chief Minister in Maharashtra, capitulated four days after the election results came in, saying he has left the decision to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "I have told PM Modi that I would not be an obstacle. We would go with whatever he decides," Mr Shinde told reporters today, underscoring that "no one is upset" and that he is "not greedy for any position". All three leaders of the alliance are expected to meet BJP's chief strategist Amit Shah tomorrow, he added.
With the BJP's massive score in the assembly election, Devendra Fadnavis was seen as front-runner for the post. But there has been no announcement since Saturday for what many expected to be an automatic decision, apparently owing to resistance from Mr Shinde's party.
Mr Shinde's faction of Shiv Sena has been pitching for a second innings for its chief, claiming it was his government's welfare schemes that steered the Mahayuti to victory.
Some of his leaders have openly questioned why Maharashtra cannot be another Bihar, where Nitish Kumar plays a dominant role despite better performance by the BJP in elections.
Earlier today, Shinde faction leaders, in a throwback to 2019, claimed off the record that the BJP had promised them the Chief Minister post ahead of the assembly elections.
This was the same claim leaders of the undivided Sena had made in 2019, saying the BJP had reneged on the deal after the election victory. Uddhav Thackeray had then walked out of the alliance and joined hands with the Congress and Sharad Pawar.
Mr Shinde though, had been out of any such option. The BJP, with its huge score, needs the support of only one ally to form government and Ajit Pawar has made it clear that he supports Mr Fadnavis for the top post.
In an emotional vein today, Mr Shinde said he saw himself as a "common man" and his identity as a "ladka bhai" is above any post.
"Since becoming Chief Minister I did not take a single day off... I am not one who cries, I fight... I will work for Maharashtra till my last breath," he added.
The BJP won 132 seats, the Sena 57 and the NCP 41 in the 288-member assembly, where the majority mark is 145.