5.20 pm: "I assure the people of Maharashtra that we will follow the same path of the Modi government at the Centre," Fadnavis said while addressing the media after he was named as the new chief minister of the state.
4.35 pm: BJP state president Devendra Fadnavis has been elected as the leader of the legislative party by BJP legislators at a meeting in Mumbai, as per news reports. He will be sworn-in as the new chief minister of Maharashtra on Friday.
BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy said Home Minister Rajnath Singh pronounced Fadnavis as the leader after his name was proposed by senior party members.
4.00 pm: The meeting between BJP legislators and Rajnath Singh has begun at Vidhan Bhawan in Mumbai. Sources have said BJP state president Devendra Fadnavis is set to be chosen as the legislative party leader.
3.00 pm: Home Minister Rajnath Singh has arrived in Mumbai for the party meeting to name the legislature party leader who will also be the next chief minister of Maharashtra. The meeting will begin at 4 pm.
Maharashtra will have a new chief minister on Tuesday, as 121 MLAs of the Bharatiya Janata Party will hold a meeting to elect the legislative party leader.
BJP state president Devendra Fadnavis is likely to be named the leader of the legislature and become the chief minister of Maharashtra.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh is expected to join the meeting today, which is set to begin at 4 pm.
Going to Maharashtra today where the BJP is ready to form the next government. The BJP legislature party will elect its leader this evening
— Rajnath Singh (@BJPRajnathSingh) October 28, 2014
Once the new leader is decided, BJP members will meet Maharashtra Governor CV Rao to stake claim to form the next government in the state.
The new government will take office on Friday, with the swearing-in scheduled to be held at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
While BJP won the most votes in the recently held assembly elections, winning 122 of the 288 seats, it fell short of a majority by 22 seats, and the party has since been mulling offers for alliances from the Nationalist Congress Party led by Sharad Pawar and its former partner in the state, Shiv Sena.
While the NCP has offered unconditional support to BJP and has even assured that its 41 MLAs will abstain from voting if there is a trust vote, the Shiv Sena has also softened its stand vis-a-vis the BJP, with the latest editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamna, indicating that the Sena wants to join BJP to form the new government.
"We will have to keep our political differences aside and work with the BJP chief minister for the unity of Maharashtra. We have kept ourselves together even in difficult circumstances and it will be better if it remains so," the editorial said.
