“Not Politics, Just a Wedding”: Devendra Fadnavis Clears the Air on Delhi Visit

Amid heightened speculation about the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis clarified that his visit to Delhi was purely for a personal occasion. He stated that he was in the capital to attend the wedding of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s daughter, dismissing rumors of political meetings.

Fadnavis, seen as the BJP’s frontrunner for the Chief Minister’s post, is expected to return to Mumbai later tonight, ahead of Union Minister Amit Shah’s visit to the city on Tuesday. However, the suspense over Maharashtra’s top job remains, with no announcement two days after the assembly election results.

The Shiv Sena, an ally in the ruling Mahayuti alliance, is pushing for its leader Eknath Shinde to retain the position, citing his leadership and welfare initiatives that contributed to the alliance’s landslide victory. Sena spokesperson Naresh Mhaske even referenced the “Bihar model,” where Nitish Kumar continued as Chief Minister despite the BJP’s stronger performance, to support Shinde’s claim.

Meanwhile, sources suggest that the Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction may favor Fadnavis, potentially giving the BJP an edge in the decision-making process. The BJP emerged as the largest party in the alliance with 132 seats, followed by the Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction with 57 seats, and Ajit Pawar’s NCP faction with 41 seats, securing the alliance a dominant 230 seats out of 288 in the state assembly.

Fadnavis previously lightened the mood at a press conference, joking about consulting all allies, including Ramdas Athawale of the RPI-Athawale faction, which contested one seat under the BJP banner but did not win. With deliberations ongoing, all eyes are on the ruling alliance’s leadership to finalize their decision.

News Source : “Information for this article was gathered from a variety of reliable news outlets.”