'Returning the favour': Eknath Shinde on supporting Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra CM

The Mahayuti leaders with Maharashtra Governor.

Minutes after Mahayuti leaders staked claim to form the next government, Maharashtra caretaker chief minister Eknath Shinde, ending speculation over bickering for the chief minister's position, said he supports Devendra Fadnavis for the top post as he was only 'returning the favour'.

The caretaker CM went on to add that he is very happy with the completion of two and a half years as the CM.

The three leaders, Eknath Shinde, Devender Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, met Governor C P Radhakrishnan after the BJP legislature party meet elected Fadnavis as their leader.

"The work done by our government, the Mahayuti government, the three of us and our team in the last 2.5 years is remarkable. It will be written in golden letters in history. We are happy that we took such big decisions..." said Shinde.

However, Shinde maintained ambivalence over the deputy chief minister's position and asked the press contingent to wait for a formal decision till late evening.

The joint marked the first joint address by the three alliance leaders, namely- Eknath Shinde, Devender Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar after hectic parleys spanning over 10 days over the chief minister's position since the declaration of the poll outcome on November 23.

The swearing-in ceremony is set to take place at Azad Maidan in Mumbai on December 5 at 5.30 pm, in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"The Governor has given us time of 5.30pm on December 5 for the swearing in, we have given a letter of smaller parties like Jan Surajya party and other smaller parties, I thank Eknathji Shinde and Ajit Pawar of the NCP for giving a letter to the Governor for giving a letter to the Governor supporting me as the Chief Minister," Fadnavis said during the same press conference.

Mahayuti, which consists of three major camps, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde), NCP (Ajit Pawar) and BJP, secured a landslide victory, winning 230 seats in the 288-member assembly. The saffron party, however, emerged as the single largest party, missing the majority mark of 145 with 132 seats. The Eknath Shinde faction and Ajit Pawar-NCP secured 57 and 41 seats respecively.