Maharashtra CM news live: Devendra Fadnavis or Eknath Shinde? Deadlock over top post continues

Maharashtra CM News Live: BJP MP Ashok Chavan told reporters on Wednesday that it had only been 4 days since the results came out and that there was no delay in announcing the chief minister.

He also said, "There is an alliance of three parties. Therefore, a decision will be taken only after taking everyone into confidence. A stable government will be formed."

Maharashtra CM News Live: On EVMs, Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan told news agency ANI, “A campaign should definitely be run, there is something fishy in the results that are coming, we will not blame anyone but we all want that it should come on the ballot paper.”

Maharashtra CM News Live: As the Model Code of Conduct ceased to be in effect, Senior IPS officer Rashmi Shukla on Tuesday resumed her role as the Maharashtra DGP.

The order reinstating Shukla as the director general of police was issued by the state home department on Monday evening.

Shukla was removed from the post based on ECI directives. Sanjay Kumar Verma had taken over as the state's top police officer in the absence of Shukla.

Maharashtra CM News Live: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday demanded the replacement of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with ballot papers after the party's defeat in the Maharashtra assembly elections.

During a speech at the Constitution Day program at Talkatora stadium he said, “Votes of people from SC, ST, OBC, poor communities are being wasted. Set aside EVMs. We do not want EVMs; we want voting on ballot paper...Let them keep the machine at their home, at the home of PM Modi or Amit Shah...Then we would know where you (BJP-NDA) stand.”

Maharashtra CM News Live: NCP-SP leader Clyde Crasto on Wednesday accused the BJP of using Eknath Shinde to win the elections and said it was an injustice to not give him the post of chief minister now.

Crasto told ANI, “The whole issue of who is going to be the next Maharashtra CM is turning out to be a big question. During the elections, the BJP always said that they were contesting the elections with Eknath Shinde as the face of Mahayuti. Now when the time has come and he has also performed, and it is the time to make him the CM again, the party is talking about the Bihar model not being there and other issues. This clearly means they are using Eknath Shinde.”

Maharashtra CM News Live: A BJP leader, who wished to remain anonymous, told news agency PTI that the party would not announce the candidate for chief minister until the distribution of ministerial portfolios was finalised.

"The central leadership is in no hurry to name a candidate for the chief minister's post. We have secured a decisive mandate, and the priority now is to work out a comprehensive plan for government formation which includes finalising ministerial portfolios and distribution of key posts such as district guardian ministers," the leader reportedly said.

Maharashtra CM News Live: Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan stated on Tuesday that people across most states in the country have completely rejected what he called the Congress' "shop of illusion, lies, and deception."

In a post on X, Pradhan said, "Maharashtra has become the 17th state where the Congress has less than 10 per cent of MLAs. The people of many states, including Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bengal, Delhi, and Tripura, have completely rejected Rahul Gandhi and the Congress," he said.

Maharashtra CM News Live: The Maharashtra chief electoral officer slammed the "inaccurate and mischievous" report on a news website about "additional votes" in the state assembly polls and "mismatch" in two assembly constituencies.

In a letter to the news site they said, “The report has attempted to mislead readers by mischievously comparing two different parameters, as the report has included 5,38,225 postal ballots in the votes counted which was not part of the votes polled data released.”

It said the results portal of the Election Commission of India (ECI) clearly displays "EVM votes" and "counted valid postal votes" separately for each assembly constituency.

Maharashtra CM News Live: Shiv Sena leader Shambhuraj Desai said on Tuesday that whatever decision Ajit Pawar, Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde came to, the Mahayuti MLAs would respect it.

“Every party feels that a leader of their own party should get the CM post. If you ask me, as a Shiv Sainik, I would say that our main leader, Eknath Shinde,should get the CM post. The same goes for BJP leaders who want Devendra Fadnavis to get the post...But all three leaders will sit together and discuss. A solution would come out after discussions,” he told ANI.

Maharashtra CM News Live: Union minister Ramdas Athawale showed his support for Devendra Fadnavis, stating that the people of Maharashtra wanted him as their next chief minister.

He also suggested that Shiv Sena's Eknath Shinde could be deputy chief minister or a union minister.

Adressing the deadlock he said, “When Eknath Shinde came to know that the BJP high command has finalised Devendra Fadnavis as the CM (of Maharashtra), he is a bit unhappy, which I can understand. But, BJP has got 132 seats and hence I think there have to make a way. Devendra Fadnavis should be made the CM."