The new government of the Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra will be formed on December 5 with Devendra Fadnavis emerging as the frontrunner to become the next chief minister, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader said on Saturday.
In the November 20 Maharashtra assembly polls, the Mahayuti alliance of the BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party, 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 on November 23, no decision has been made on who will be the chief minister. Shinde, Fadnavis and Pawar met BJP president J P Nadda and Union minister Amit Shah late Thursday to thrash out a power-sharing pact for the next government in Maharashtra.
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.
The BJP leader, who did not wish to be quoted, said the swearing-in of the new government will take place on December 5.