Newly sworn-in Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Tuesday, 5 July, that it was his idea to make rebel leader Eknath Shinde the new chief minister.
The dissident Shiv Sena camp led by Shinde had toppled the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government last week after Uddhav Thackeray stepped down as chief minister on 29 June ahead of a floor test.
Amid speculations that BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis would be the new CM, Shinde was appointed to the post in an unexpected turn of events while Fadnavis became the deputy CM on 30 June.
Fadnavis also admitted to not being mentally prepared to even become Deputy CM. However, he said that he had agreed to it after a discussion with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and an intervention by BJP president JP Nadda and Union home minister Amit Shah.