Devendra Fadnavis speaks to the media as Eknath Shinde sits next to him.
After rebel leader Eknath Shinde delivered a googly that stumped Uddhav Thackeray, BJP's Devendra Fadnavis backed it up with a 'doosra' -- Mr Shinde will be the Chief Minister, and Mr Fadnavis will support him but not be part of the government. Speculation was that Mr Fadnavis would take the top post in the Shinde Sena-BJP alliance, and Mr Shinde would be his deputy.
This twist is another tough one to counter for Uddhav Thackeray, who had tauntingly asked the rebels if the BJP would make one of them the chief minister.
As Mr Fadnavis broke the news to reporters, he accused Uddhav Thackeray of going against the original mandate in 2019 and "daily insulting Hindutva". "The BJP-Shiv Sena prepoll alliance won 161 seats [in a House of 288], and it was expected that the coalition would form the government. But Uddhav Thackeray went against the wishes of the people," he said.
Mr Fadnavis, who was chief minister in the previous BJP-Shiv Sena government, briefly became chief minister even when the Sena broke away after the 2019 polls. But he had to quit within days as Ajit Pawar and his breakaway NCP faction went back to uncle Sharad Pawar's fold. Ajit Pawar then became deputy to Uddhav Thackeray. The turn of events embarrassed Mr Fadnavis and the BJP, who had became fodder for viral memes.
Mr Fadnavis was widely expected to take the chair now, as he was seen as a driving force behind the Sena rebellion.
