Shinde, Fadnavis Call On Prez Kovind
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday called on President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
“Eknath Shinde, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, along with Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister, called on President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan,” Rashtrapati Bhavan tweeted.
According to the sources, Shinde and Fadnavis are likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the day.
He will also meet BJP President JP Nadda.
On Friday, Shinde and Fadnavis met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and discussed the new government to be formed in Maharashtra and many other subjects.
Earlier in June this year, Eknath Shinde led a group of Sena MLAs against the MVA government, resulting in it losing its majority in the Maharashtra assembly. This also led Shiv Sena chief Thackeray to step down as CM ahead of a floor test.
In Maharashtra, the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of the new government have been sworn in while the rest of the ministers are to be sworn in.
Sources said that more than a dozen people of the Shinde camp can be made ministers. Current eight ministers of the Uddhav government had joined his rebellion along with Shinde. In such a situation, all of them can be made ministers once again.
The visit comes as the first tour for Shinde after taking charge of the office as the CM. With the buzz of the Maharashtra cabinet being expanded in two phases doing rounds, the meeting is significant as reportedly the first announcements of the cabinet will be made before the presidential elections.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde formally took the charge of Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) on Thursday in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Shinde won the floor test in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on the last day of the two-day special session of the House. In the 288-member House, 164 MLAs voted for the motion of confidence, while 99 voted against it.
Three legislators abstained from voting, while Congress’s Ashok Chavan and Vijay Wadettiwar were among those absent during the trust vote.
Shinde was sworn in as CM on June 30, a day after Uddhav Thackeray quit the post. BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the deputy CM. (ANI)
