Has Shinde dropped enough hints that he isn’t returning as Maharashtra CM?

Amid the impasse over Maharashtra Chief Minister’s post, caretaker CM Eknath Shinde on Wednesday said in Thane that he had given Prime Minister Narendra Modi a free hand for his plans for Maharashtra and that he “wouldn’t be an obstacle”. He also harped on the fact that he had worked like a common man, to benefit the common, and that CM meant “common man” for him. His body language suggested that, whatever the case, he hadn’t got a raw deal.
Eknath Shinde reposed his faith in PM Modi’s decision and wisdom as he handed him a carte blanche on the Chief Minister’s pick and government formation in Maharashtra.
“I spoke to PM Modi yesterday and told him that I wouldn’t be an obstacle to any of his plans for Mahayuti or Maharashtra,” Shinde told media people at his residence in Thane.
“I have told him that as his words were last word for the BJP, it was so for us,” the Shiv Sena leader said.
He signalled at the press meet that he wasn’t digging in his heels for the Maharashtra Chief Minister’s post. BJP MLAs were rooting for their leader Devendra Fadnavis as the CM.
Fadnavis also has the backing of NCP leader Ajit Pawar and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS). Shiv Sena MLAs, however, were piling pressure for Shinde to be made the CM.
However, he went on recounting how he led the Mahayuti for 2.5 years, and brought about all the schemes that shaped the victory of the alliance in the politically crucial state.
He highlighted how he had worked as a common man to benefit the common man. “CM doesn’t mean chief minister, but common man to me,” said Shinde.
“The love and support that I have received from the people of Maharashtra is enough for me,” he said, dropping enough hints that Maharashtra was unlikely to see a repeat of 2019.
In 2019, though the BJP and the unified Shiv Sena, then under Uddhav Thackeray, contested as allies, they broke away due to differences over the CM post.
The Mahayuti alliance, made up of the BJP, the Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar’s NCP, swept the Maharashtra Assembly elections, securing 237 out of 288 seats. The BJP led the charge with 133 seats, while Shinde’s Shiv Sena secured 57.
Though Shinde was unofficially projected to be the Maharashtra CM face during the campaign, the numerical superiority of the BJP changed the plot.
Under Fadnavis, the BJP registered a record victory in Maharashtra. With Independents joining in, it now has 139 MLAs in the 288-member Assembly.
The Mahayuti alliance leaders, including Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde, will be in Delhi on November 28 for a meeting with the BJP brass.
Any announcement of the Chief Minister is likely to come only after that.
Fadnavis is already in Delhi, and said any decision on the CM’s post would be taken by all the alliance partners together.
“I made a phone call to PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah yesterday, and told them that there will be no problem in forming the government because of me.” Shinde said on Wednesday.
Shinde resigned as the Chief Minister on Tuesday and was asked to continue as the caretaker CM by the governor. The 5-year term of the Maharashtra Assembly ended on November 26.