Shinde, Fadnavis meet on eve of Maha CM call

Maharashtra's caretaker chief minister Eknath Shinde and the man tipped to be his successor, Devendra Fadnavis, met in Mumbai on Tuesday evening and appeared to break a days-long deadlock over government formation, a day before the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is scheduled to pick its legislative party leader and possibly stake claim for power.

- Surendra P Gangan, Faisal Malik and Yogesh Naik

After the meeting at the chief minister's official bungalow, Varsha, the two leaders decided to keep the contentious issues of top portfolios and cabinet berths on hold and focus on the oath-taking ceremony scheduled on Thursday, said people aware of developments. The visit was preceded by another meeting between BJP troubleshooter Girish Mahajan and Shinde, who went to a hospital in Thane for tests before returning to his residence.

The three leaders of the Mahayuti - Shinde, Fadnavis and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar-are now likely to meet on Wednesday after the meeting of BJP lawmakers to pick their leader, who is also likely to be the next chief minister of Maharashtra.

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani have been appointed as observers.

Rupani told reporters in Gandhinagar that the BJP, which won 132 seats last month's assembly elections, was the single-largest party in the state, and the CM was expected to be from the party.

"Caretaker CM Shinde himself has clarified that he would abide by the decision taken by the BJP leadership over the post of the CM. We will elect BJP's legislative party leader unanimously on Wednesday," he said.

The government is likely to have two deputy CMs, with Shinde and Pawar also likely to take oath on Thursday, people aware of the discussions said. "Caretaker chief minister Eknath Shinde should be respected appropriately. After all, he has proven that the one led by him is the real Shiv Sena," said Sena leader Deepak Kesarkar.

The meetings on Tuesday appeared to end the stalemate that had stalled government formation after the Mahayuti won 235 out of 288 seats in the November 20 assembly elections, trouncing the Maha Vikas Aghadi, which won just 50 seats.