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.
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