New Delhi/Mumbai: Union rural development and transport minister Nitin Gadkari has an officially scheduled engagement with the state transport ministers on Monday; around this time the newly elected legislators of the Bhara-tiya Janata Party would be meeting at the Vidhan Bhawan in Mumbai to elect their leader who is certain to be the next chief minister of Maharashtra.
Gadkari along with the state chief Devendra Fadnavis have been talked about as the front runners for the chief minister’s job for quite some time, and the union minister’s presence in Delhi could be seen as an indicator of the turn of events in Mumbai.
Union minister Rajnath Singh and party general secretary J P Nadda would be the party’s central observers for a meeting that would pave the way for the government formation during the course of the week.
The newly elected leader along with a clutch of ministers are now scheduled to be sworn-in at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on October 31, and prime minister Narendra Modi along with the party top brass would be present on the occasion.
With the Shiv Sena openly declaring its support for BJP CM, some kind of working arrangement with the estranged ally seems in the works. But the shape would be known only after the formal election of the leader. Uddhav Thackeray’s lieutenants, Subhash and Anil Desai, were in the national capital on Monday
to fine-tune the power-sharing arrangement. They met BJP leader Dharmendra Prandhan, who is expected to brief Prime Minister Modi.
“But even if the terms of alliance get finalized before Friday, Sena ministers are unlikely to be sworn in that day. Party’s top leaders want to keep it an entirely BJP show,” said a party functionary.
Speaking for the first time in favour of a BJP-led coalition government, senior Sena leader and spokesman Sanjay Raut said such a dispensation will be a “stable” one.
The NCP, which had offered support to the BJP after the poll result was out, said it will have no problem if the Shiv Sena joins the government.
“We will not be part of the government but do not want to create instability by voting against a minority government. So, NCP will abstain, if there is voting,” party spokesman Nawab Malik said.
