Mahayuti to decide CM jointly: State BJP chief

Leaders and workers of the three Mahayuti parties held meetings within their respective outfits on Sunday to discuss government formation and the crucial question of who will be the next chief minister, a day after the coalition notched up a thumping victory in the Maharashtra assembly elections.

- Surendra P Gangan, Faisal Malik and Smriti Kak Ramachandran

Senior functionaries of both coalition leader Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and chief minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena said they would want to see their own take the top spot and cited a number of reasons for their contention, but they also spoke of efforts to arrive at a consensus, including with the third main ally, Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

The Mahayuti clinched 235 of 288 seats, with the BJP winning 132 seats, Shiv Sena 57, NCP 41 and others 5. The opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi secured 50 seats - Shiv Sena-UBT 20, Congress 16, and NCP-SP 10. The remaining two seats went to Independents and one to AIMIM.

Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule, while indicating preference for Fadnavis, said a collective decision will be taken. "The final decision would be taken by the top leaders of the three parties.

It is obvious that all three ruling parties and their workers want their leader in the top position. Similarly, BJP leaders, workers and party voters think Fadnavis should become CM," he said.