Jayant Patil to be sworn-in as Maharashtra Deputy CM after Ajit Pawar declines : Sources

Ahead of Uddhav Thackeray's swearing-in ceremony, sources have reported on Thursday, that NCP has chosen Jayant Patil as the Deputy CM after Ajit Pawar allegedly turned it down. Patil who is currently the party's legislative leader will take oath with Thackeray later in the day. The alliance has decided that while NCP will get the Deputy CM post, Congress will get the Speaker post, as stated by NCP leader Praful Patel. Six other Ministers are set to take the oath, as per sources.

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Congress-NCP rift

Sources also report that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi is unhappy with the cabinet split. Moreover, sources report rift between Congress-NCP over the President of Vidhan Sabha. While Congress has reportedly chosen Prithviraj Chavan NCP has claimed that Ashok Chavan has been picked. Moreover, Gandhi will not be attending the oath ceremony and neither is Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Chandrababu Naidu nor PM Modi who have been invited. Congress CMs Kamal Nath and Bhupesh Baghel will be attending the ceremony.

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Ministerial Birth Allocation (as per sources)

• Shivsena- 16
• NCP- 15
• Congress- 12

(Excluding CM, deputy CM and speaker post)

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Uddhav to be sworn-in as CM

Shiv Sena Supremo Uddhav Thackeray who was chosen as the leader of the Maha Vikas Aghadi unanimously on Tuesday and is set to take oath as Maharashtra CM on Thursday, at 6:40 PM in Shivaji Park. The Maha Vikas Aghadi which staked a claim on Tuesday has been given a deadline till December 3 to prove their numbers. All MLAs were sworn-in on Wednesday in a special session, including Devendra Fadnavis who stepped down as CM after Ajit Pawar rescinded his support to the BJP-led government.

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Maha tussle

Almost a month after elections, the president's rule was imposed after no party could prove a majority. The BJP-Sena which fell out squabbling over a 50-50 power-sharing and shared CM post bagged 161 seats (BJP- 105, Shiv Sena-56). Meanwhile, the Maha Aghadi won 98 seats (NCP -54, Congress) and is now forming the government with Sena.