Uddhav Thackeray Has Agreed To Become Maharashtra Chief Minister, Says Sanjay Raut

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Friday confirmed that party chief Uddhav Thackeray has agreed to become the chief minister. Raut’s remarks came a few hours after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar said Congress-NCP-Shiv Sena will form a government in Maharashtra under the leadership of Thackeray. The announcement was made after a meeting of the three parties to evolve a consensus on the development agenda for governance for the prospective ruling coalition.

"Uddhav Thackeray has given his consent to become the chief minister," said Raut.

Top leaders of the Sena, the Congress, and the NCP met on Friday to give shape to a new government to be led by the Uddhav Thackeray-headed party, nearly a month after assembly poll results were announced.

Eknath Shinde, Subhash Desai, Sanjay Raut (all Shiv Sena), Ahmed Patel, Mallikarjun Kharge, KC Venugopal, Avinash Pande, Balasaheb Thorat, Prithviraj Chavan (Congress), Praful Patel, Jayant Patil and Ajit Pawar (NCP) took part in the meeting. NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray also attended the deliberations at Nehru Centre in Central Mumbai.

The state has been facing a political crisis after the Sena broke its three-decade-long ties with the BJP after the latter declined to share the chief minister’s post.

The BJP and the Sena, which fought the Assembly polls in the alliance, had secured a comfortable majority by winning 105 and 56 seats, respectively, in the 288-member Assembly.

The NCP and the Congress, pre-poll allies, won 54 and 44 seats, respectively.

The combined tally of the Sena, the NCP and the Congress is way beyond the majority mark of 145. The state is currently under President’s rule.

With PTI Inputs