Mahayuti leaders meet Shah to seal power pact

Top leaders of the Mahayuti flew into Delhi on Thursday night for a high-profile meeting at Union home minister Amit Shah's residence to hammer out the formula for determining the next chief minister of Maharashtra as the stage for government formation shifted to the national capital.

Caretaker chief minister Eknath Shinde, his former deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, along with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief JP Nadda were present at Shah's house in the meeting that spilled into the late hours of the night.

The BJP is expected to pick its leader on Saturday in a meeting of its lawmakers in Mumbai.

Fadnavis, who was chief minister of Maharashtra between 2014 and 2019, was tipped to be the next CM after Shinde said on Wednesday that he was amenable to any decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah.

"The meeting will be positive.

Yesterday, we also clarified our stance that there is no obstacle to the CM of the Mahayuti alliance. This 'Ladla Bhai' has come to Delhi, and this designation is higher than anything else for me," Shinde said at Delhi airport before driving straight to Shah's Krishna Menon Marg residence.

He was referring to the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin scheme, under which poor women are paid 1,500 a month and which was one of the main contributors to the Mahayuti's landslide victory in the recently concluded assembly elections.

Earlier, Fadnavis held a meeting with Ajit Pawar at the residence of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sunil Tatkare. Shinde met Shah in Delhi separately ahead of the main meeting of the Mahayuti coalition. Ajit Pawar then joined the meeting at Shah's residence, followed by Fadnavis.