Asked if he was dismayed that he was not getting a second term, Shinde said, “There is no such thing. You must remember that BJP supported my tenure as CM. There is a meeting in Delhi tomorrow with Amit bhai (Shah) and all related decisions will be taken there,” Shinde said, when asked about who the deputy chief ministers will be in the new cabinet.The modalities of forming the next government will be finalised in the meeting at Delhi on Thursday, he said.”I thank the people and voters of Maharashtra once again for this landslide victory,”he said.Shinde said he campaigned extensively during the recent assembly elections.”I used to sleep for 2-3 hours before starting the campaign the next day,” he added.”I am a worker forever; for me, CM is not Chief Minister but Common Man,”he said.Shinde thanked PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for supporting him during his two-and-a-half year tenure as chief minister.”We worked to take Maharashtra to Number 1 spot from Number 3 in six months of my becoming CM,” he said.”I am not disappointed. We fight and don’t cry,” Shinde said, referring to media reports that he was unhappy over being asked to step down despite leading the Mahayuti to a massive poll victory.”I worked as the CM not to become popular but for the welfare of people of Maharashtra,” Shinde said.The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance scripted a powerful comeback in state assembly elections by winning 230 seats in the 288-member House.Recovering from its Lok Sabha elections losses, the BJP bagged 132 constituencies, highest among all constituents of the Mahayuti.Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP also performed well.Sena won 57 while NCP won 41 seats.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) won just 10 seats, whereas Uddhav Thackeray’s (UBT) won 20 seats.The Maharashtra assembly elections were held on November 20, and the results were declared on November 23.On Tuesday, Eknath Shinde tendered his resignation as CM to Governor C P Radhakrishnan.The Governor requested Shinde to continue as caretaker chief minister until the new government is formed.
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