BJP to announce Maharashtra CM candidate by noon, Fadnavis remains top choice

Mumbai: The Bharatiya Janata Party is expected to announce its chief ministerial nominee by noon today, following a series of high-level party meetings at the Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai.
The state BJP’s core committee meeting at the party’s Vidhan Bhavan office will precede a legislative party meeting in the central hall of the state legislature at 11am. The party will officially announce its choice for chief minister through a media conference around noon, after the legislative party leader is elected.
Devendra Fadnavis, the two-time chief minister and outgoing deputy chief minister, is widely expected to be the BJP’s choice for the top post.
Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekar Bawankule told reporters at Vidhan Bhavan, “State core committee meeting will be held at the BJP office at the Vidhan Bhavan followed by the state legislative party meeting at 11am. The legislative party leader will be elected by party MLAs in the meeting. The official announcement of the name will be done in a press briefing after it.”
Former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman have been appointed to oversee the legislative party meeting to select the BJP’s legislative leader, who will become the party’s chief ministerial nominee.
The BJP secured a commanding victory in the November 20 elections, winning 132 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly. The Mahayuti alliance, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), will form the government. The Shiv Sena and NCP hold 57 and 41 seats respectively.
Following the election of the legislative party leader, the BJP leader will join the chiefs of Shiv Sena and NCP to stake claim to form the government at Raj Bhavan. The swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for December 5 at Azad Maidan.