Eknath Shinde resigns, suspense continues on next Maharashtra CM

Assembly dissolved; Shinde appointed as caretaker CM

- VINAY KUMAR

After the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance won a landslide victory in Maharashtra Assembly elections three days ago, it would have been a rather smooth going to pick the next chief minister but the thorny question of who will head the new government is keeping the suspense alive.

On Tuesday, Eknath Shinde resigned as Chief Minister, days after the BJP-NCP-Shiv Sena alliance registered a historic victory in the Assembly elections. The term of the current Assembly in the state ended on Tuesday.

As the BJP bagged 132 of the 288 Assembly seats on its own, falling just 13 short of the majority mark of 145, the party's push for the outgoing deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis seemed to have ruffled feathers in the Shiv Sena's Shinde faction.

Shinde will serve as caretaker CM of the new Mahayuti-led government.

Shinde handed his resignation to Governor Radhakrishnan at the Raj Bhavan in Mumbai. He was accompanied by deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar.

Suspense continued on the key question: who will take over as the next chief minister?