Eknath Shinde recovering from fever; to return to Mumbai

Mumbai: Maharashtra's caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who took ill at his native village in Satara district, is recovering and will return to Mumbai on Sunday evening, an associate said.

A team of doctors checked on Shinde as he developed high fever on Saturday.

The Shiv Sena leader headed to his native village Dare in Satara district on Friday amid speculation that he was not happy with the way the new state government was shaping up.

Shinde had fever and throat infection, his family doctor R M Parte told news channels on Saturday.

"He has been given medicines and put on IV (intra-venous therapy for medication). He will feel better in two days. He is leaving for Mumbai on Sunday," Dr Parte said.

A close aide of Shinde on Sunday also said the caretaker CM has been under the weather for sometime and developed fever on Saturday.

Shinde is recovering and will return to Mumbai in the evening, the associate added.

The swearing-in of the new Mahayuti government in Maharashtra will take place on December 5 evening at the Azad Maidan in south Mumbai, state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said on Saturday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the oath-taking ceremony, he said.

While there was no announcement yet on who would be the chief minister, BJP sources said Devendra Fadnavis, who has been chief minister twice and was deputy CM in the last Eknath Shinde-led government, was the frontrunner for the post.

The Mahayuti alliance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) retained power with a landslide victory in the assembly elections, the results of which were announced on November 23.

While the simple majority figure in the 288-member House is 145, the BJP alone bagged 132 seats, followed by Shiv Sena with 57 and NCP with 41 seats.

But the government formation was delayed as the alliance failed to evolve a consensus on who would be the chief minister.

Fadnavis to be new CM

Mahayuti alliance's new government in Maharashtra will be formed on December 5 with Devendra Fadnavis emerging as the frontrunner to become the next chief minister, a senior BJP leader said on Saturday.

In the November 20 Maharashtra assembly polls, the Mahayuti alliance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) retained power, pocketing a whopping 230 of the 288 assembly seats. The BJP emerged as the single largest party, winning 132 seats, followed by Shiv Sena with 57 and NCP with 41 seats.

However, even after the announcement of poll results a week ago (on November 23), the formation of the government has been delayed as the tripartite alliance is yet to decide on who will be the next chief minister. Shinde, Fadnavis and Pawar met BJP president J P Nadda and Union minister Amit Shah late Thursday to discuss a power-sharing pact for the next government.

A key Mahayuti meeting scheduled on Friday was put off and likely to take place on Sunday now as caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde headed to his native village in Satara district, delaying government formation further.

The BJP leader, who did not wish to be quoted, said the swearing-in of the new government will take place on December 5.

Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, who was the chief minister twice and deputy chief minister in the last government, is the frontrunner for the top post, the leader said.

Another senior BJP leader said the chief minister's swearing-in ceremony will take place at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai.

But before that, a meeting will be held on December 2 to pick the BJP legislature party leader, he said.

Caretaker CM Shinde has made it clear that he will fully support BJP leadership's decision to name the next CM, and that he won't be a hurdle in the process, while Ajit Pawar-led NCP has backed Fadnavis for the chief minister's post.

In the assembly elections, Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a setback. The grand old party registered one of its worst performances in the state assembly polls after it won only 16 seats. Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP) could bag only 10 seats, whereas Uddhav Thackeray's (UBT) won 20.

Inputs from PTI