Devendra Fadnavis Rejects Rumors of Eknath Shinde Replacing Him as Chief Minister

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday dismissed ongoing speculations that Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde would replace him at Mantralaya or that he would be shifted to Delhi.

Speaking at an event organized by news channel Mumbai Tak, Fadnavis asserted that the Chief Minister of the state will naturally be selected from the BJP. He sought to clarify the leadership alignment and power dynamics within the ruling alliance.

The political buzz intensified after six Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs recently defected to the ruling Shiv Sena faction led by Eknath Shinde. Following these defections, rumors began circulating that Shinde could replace Fadnavis as Chief Minister in the coming days. Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray had also claimed that "Operation Tiger," the mission name for poaching Sena (UBT) leaders, was actually "Operation Fadnavis," designed to shift Fadnavis to Delhi and hand the Chief Minister's chair to Shinde.

Fadnavis strongly refuted these claims during the Wednesday event. Pointing to the legislative numbers, Fadnavis noted that the BJP holds 137 seats in a state where a party needs 147 seats to win a simple majority in the assembly.

He questioned whether the Chief Minister would come from any other party under such circumstances, stating that the top leaders of the BJP will naturally select someone from their own party as the Chief Minister. Fadnavis added that this is the reality and even Shinde knows this.

Addressing Shinde's frequent trips to Delhi, Fadnavis insisted that any disputes within the alliance in Maharashtra will be solved locally.

Additionally, close aides of the Chief Minister stated that Fadnavis will not be shifting to Delhi in the Union cabinet reshuffle that is expected soon. While Fadnavis has told several people in the ruling alliance that he will eventually shift to Delhi, he clarified that he will not do so right now. His latest remarks have put a question mark on Shinde's efforts to get back the top job.