In the midst of govt-formation talks, Shinde heads to Satara

Saturday will mark a week since the Mahayuti won a resounding mandate in the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections.

- Surendra P Gangan

But despite the clear mandate, the big question about who will be chief minister remains unanswered; and until late Friday night, there was no clarity on what the contours of the new government might look like. To complicate matters, caretaker chief minister Eknath Shinde, known to be a workaholic, has left for his farmhouse at Satara.

Shiv Sena leaders close to the developments said that despite Shinde's press briefing on Wednesday, where he announced he would go by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision on the new chief minister, he is still bargaining hard for a better deal. A senior member of the Shiv Sena told HT, "If Shinde, under whose leadership the Mahayuti won so handsomely, is not coming back as chief minister, he should be given the home ministry."

Shinde is also weighing the optics of returning to the new administration as deputy CM, according to Shiv Sena leaders. The party, which won 57 seats in the Assembly, has also told the BJP leadership that if Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) has to be decimated, then the Mahayuti has to win the local body elections slated for early next year, especially the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation polls, which have so far been the Thackeray family's stronghold. And for this, the BJP must allow Shinde to lead the government in the new term, people familiar with the matter said.