BJP legislature party meet to elect Maharastra chief minister today

Mumbai: Former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, one of the two BJP observers for its Maharashtra legislature party meeting, on Tuesday said the name of the legislature party leader will be finalised after talks with the party's newly-elected MLAs.

Rupani, who arrived in Mumbai late this evening for the meeting BJP's crucial legislature party to be held on Wednesday, said if there is unanimity, then only one name will be selected.

The BJP has achieved remarkable success in the November 20 Maharashtra elections, securing 132 out of 288 seats, marking its best performance in the state so far. Former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is being seen as the frontrunner for the top post in the new BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP government.

Speaking to reporters, Rupani said, "The government will be formed. Discussions with the elected MLAs will take place tomorrow. One name will be finalised and it will be announced later."

He said the process of finalising the leader of the BJP's legislative party follows a set tradition within the party.

"This is our way of finalising the name. The legislature party leader will be decided and the leader will take oath as the chief minister of Maharashtra the next day," he added.

"If there is unanimity, then only one proposal (name) will be put forward," Rupani added.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who is also an observer, will join Rupani in the talks.

The two leaders will meet BJP's elected representatives in the Central Hall of the Maharashtra Vidhan Bhavan to finalise the name.

The party has already announced that the new chief minister will take oath on December 5 at a mega event at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai, which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several Union ministers, party leaders and chief ministers of the party-ruled states.

Special arrangements have been made to accommodate 40,000 BJP supporters and a separate seating arrangement made for 2,000 VVIPs, including leaders from various religions, party leaders said.