Maharashtra Governor Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao on Tuesday formally invited the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form the state government and set October 31 for the swearing-in ceremony.
Following the meeting with the Rao, newly-elected leader of the BJP legislative party Devendra Fadnavis, flanked by senior party leaders Om Mathur and Rajiv Pratap Rudy, disclosed the Governor's decision before the media here.
"Today we met the honourable Governor. We presented before him the resolution, which was passed unanimously by the party legislative, electing me as its leader, in order to stake our claim to form the government," Fadnavis said.
"Following consultations and discussions with me, the Governor has invited us to form government and has set October 31 as the oath taking ceremony," he added.
Fadnavis also stated that the Governor has asked him to prove majority in the floor of the state assembly within 15 days following the oath-taking ceremony.
Earlier in the day, the BJP members of legislative assembly (MLAs) unanimously chose Fadvanis as their leader, thus paving the way for him to be invited to be the next Chief Minister of the state.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who was the party's central observer, announced this decision after the meeting in Mumbai.
Both Fadnavis and Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari were in the ring for the post, but Gadkari had ruled himself out after a meeting with top Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leaders in Nagpur last week.
On Sunday, the BJP had announced that the party is willing to form the government in Maharashtra in alliance with the Shiv Sena. Later, through an editorial in mouthpiece Saamna, the Shiv Sena expressed its willingness to support any person chosen by the BJP as the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
The BJP and Shiv Sena broke their 25-year old alliance ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly polls over seats sharing.
The BJP has emerged as the single-largest party in Maharashtra winning 122 of the 288 seats. The Shiv Sena finished second with 63 seats. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) too has offered the BJP 'external support' to form the government in the state.
