Maha oath on Dec 5, Sena insists on home portfolio

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will get the Maharashtra chief minister's post and the swearing-in ceremony will be held on December 5, Mahayuti coalition leaders announced on Saturday, triggering yet more disapproval from the Shiv Sena over the "unilateral" nature of the announcement.

- Yogesh Naik

"During the meeting in Delhi, it was decided that Mahayuti will form the government with the CM from the BJP and the remaining two parties will have DCMs (deputy chief ministers)," Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar said, adding, "This is not the first time there has been a delay... If you remember, in 1999, one month was taken for government formation."

Hours earlier, state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule independently announced that the oath-taking ceremony would take place at 5 pm at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in attendance.

The announcement, made over X, triggered unease within the Shiv Sena. "Leaders of all three parties - Eknath Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar - should have announced this together. The BJP may have consulted the CM before announcing venue and date," Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Shirsat said. He then staked claim to a crucial portfolio: "The Mahayuti must give the home department to Shiv Sena if the chief ministership goes to BJP."

In the earlier government, the home department was with deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis when Shinde was chief minister. Bawankule responded by saying such matters shouldn't be discussed publicly, highlighting growing friction within the alliance.