Midnight power play under Shah's watch

Hectic jockeying for power marked by brutal give and take over lucrative portfolios of finance & urban development

Intense negotiations to form Maharashtra's new government reached a feverish pitch on Thursday night at Union Home Minister Amit Shah's residence.

Behind closed doors, the air was thick with power play as the BJP sought to muster critical support from the Shiv Sena and the NCP factions within the Maha Yuti alliance. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde made a telling declaration, voicing his readiness to align with the senior BJP leaders' decisions and reiterating his loyalty to the coalition. Ajit Pawar's confirmation of support from his NCP faction injected further momentum into the BJP's pursuit of the Chief Minister's post.

But while public declarations appeared to project unity, the reality was a brutal game of give-and-take. The essence of these high-level discussions, as the clock ticked by to midnight, was the strategic distribution of power. The BJP was poised to secure 21 ministerial portfolios, with Shinde's Shiv Sena expected to hold around 11 and Ajit Pawar's NCP taking roughly 10.

The true contest lay in the assignment of key ministriespositions that would cement control over the government.