Ending days of suspense, Devendra Fadnavis was today elected BJP Legislature Party leader and will be sworn in as first Maharashtra Chief Minister from the party on Friday, propped by NCP from outside.
The 44-year-old fourth term MLA from Nagpur South West seat, with RSS roots and strong backing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP Chief Amit Shah, will be only the second Brahmin Chief Minister of the state after estranged ally Shiv Sena's Manohar Joshi.
Surmounting competition from several members of the state BJP's Core Committee, who were vying for the post but were neutralised by the party's central leadership, Fadnavis was declared elected leader of the Legislature Party by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, observer for the election.
Accompanied by BJP General Secretary Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, state Core Committee members Eknath Khadse and Vinod Tawde, besides allies RPI leader Ramdas Athawale and RSP's Mahadev Jankar, Fadnavis later called on Governor C Vidyasagar Rao to stake claim to form the government.
"We gave the Governor a letter seeking opportunity for BJP to form government. The Governor has asked us to prove majority in 15 days after the swearing in on October 31," Fadnavis told reporters after meeting Rao.
BJP General Secretary in-charge of Maharashtra J P Nadda said the swearing-in ceremony will be held at 4 PM and that talks were still on with estranged former ally Shiv Sena over forming a coalition government.
