Senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari could emerge as a candidate for Maharashtra chief minister's post after around 40 party MLAs met him at his Nagpur home on Tuesday and urged him to take charge of the state.
Transport minister Nitin Gadkari being garlanded at an election rally in Dombivli, Mumbai. (PTI Photo)
Of the 122 newly elected BJP MLAs, as many as 44 are from Vidarbha region where Gadkari is the undisputed leader of the party. Speculation about Gadkari, the union transport minister, also grew after BJP workers gave him a grand reception on his arrival at the Nagpur airport.
Gadkari, 58, could emerge as a contender for the chief minister's post if state party president Devendra Fadnavis, 44, does not emerge a consensus candidate.
Read: BJP to form Maharashtra govt after Diwali, ministers yet to be finalised
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while campaigning in Maharashtra, had praised Fadnavis as "Nagpur's gift to the nation" but, with the BJP falling short of a majority, the party may need a chief minister with greater experience.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) may then prefer Gadkari to be the chief minister instead of experimenting with Fadnavis, who has never worked in the government in his 15-year long political career.
Gadkari was made BJP president in December 2009 because of his proximity to the RSS.
"A seasoned and experience leader like Gadkari would be more successful in such trying times when the party does not have a clear majority and yet wants to form a government without alliance with the Sena or the NCP," said Ashish Deshmukh, BJP MLA from Katol.
Gadkari, who has ruled out returning to Maharashtra politics, may clear his stand after meeting RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat who will be back in Nagpur on October 25.
Sharad Pawar's NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) with 41 MLAs has already offered "outside support" to BJP in government formation, while there was no clarity on whether the party will reunite with former ally Shiv Sena. It appears the BJP will form a government in Maharashtra only after Diwali even as its leaders are busy finalising the names of those who will be in the new ministry.
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