"Will Even Ask Athawale": Devendra Fadnavis Jokes About Chief Minister Post

Maharashtra in the bag with a thumping majority, the ruling alliance Mahayuti is now facing the complicated task of choosing a Chief Minister -- to which both BJP and current Chief Minister Eknath Shinde have a claim. As reporters clamoured today to have a straight answer to the question during the press conference of the alliance, Mr Shinde's Deputy, Devendra Fadnavis -- seen as the front-runner for the post this time -- had everyone laughing with his response.

Asked who would have to "sacrifice" this time, Mr Fadnavis said, "First the three parties will choose their leaders. Then we have to call all the MLAs... Do not worry. We will ask everyone for their opinion. We will even take the advice of Athawale ji (Ramdas Athwale)".

Union minister Mr Athawale is the chief of the Republican Party of India (Athawale), one of the smaller allies of the Mahayuti, which contested the Kalina seat under the BJP symbol, but is trailing the Shiv Sena faction of Uddhav Thackeray.

Mr Athawale, still, had been vocal, predicting a victory for the ruling alliance with at least 175 seats -- falling, happily, widely off the mark. The alliance has swept the election, leading in 233 of the state's 288 seats. 

The alliance had gone into battle without projecting a face for the top post, though Mr Shinde has been its face during campaigning. While all constituents of the alliance have denied having any differences over the matter, there is speculation that there may be a replay of 2019 over the Chief Minister post. 

Five years ago, Uddhav Thackeray, claiming that BJP was reneging on its deal of a rotating Chief Ministership, had broken the decades-old alliance and formed government with the Congress and Sharad Pawar -- a move the BJP labelled power-hungry. 

In 2022, Mr Shinde had rebelled, with much the same accusation, split the Sena and formed government with the BJP, which had rewarded him with the Chief Minister post. 

Devendra Fadnavis, a former Chief Minister and the BJP's most prominent face in the state, was coaxed into taking the spot of Mr Shinde's Deputy by the BJP's central leadership. But it had irked the party's rank and file, given the number of seats the BJP commanded. 

This time, Mr Fadnavis is reportedly in the pole position, with the BJP set to scoop up 149 of the alliance's 280-odd seats. 

There have been reports that the party's chief strategist and Union minister Amit Shah had been quietly working behind the scenes to make his candidature more acceptable -- raising questions on the fallout on the alliance. 

Mr Fadnavis has been underscoring the "Batenge toh katenge (Divided we fall)" slogan of Yogi Adityanath since morning.