The oath-taking ceremony of the new Maharashtra cabinet has been announced by the BJP, but there's no word yet on who will occupy the Chief Minister's post. The ceremony will take place at 5 pm on December 5 at Mumbai's iconic Azad Maidan. 

The event will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said BJP Maharashtra chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule while making the announcement.

राज्यातील महायुती सरकारचा शपथविधी

विश्वगौरव माननीय पंतप्रधान श्री. @narendramodi जी यांच्या उपस्थितीत गुरुवार, दि. ५ डिसेंबर २०२४ रोजी संध्याकाळी ५ वाजता आझाद मैदान, मुंबई येथे संपन्न होणार आहे.

राज्य में महायुती सरकार का शपथ ग्रहण समारोह

विश्वगौरव माननीय प्रधानमंत्री श्री…

— Chandrashekhar Bawankule (@cbawankule) November 30, 2024

Six days into the declaration of the poll results, the BJP has not yet called a meeting of its MLAs-elect nor appointed the party's legislature party leader. 

Eknath Shinde, the caretaker Chief Minister, is at his native village in Satara district. He has taken ill, said an aide amid buzz that he was not happy with the way the new government was shaping up.

With 132 seats in the 288-member house, the BJP emerged the single largest party in the state when the results were announced on November 23. Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) - the other members of the Mahayuti alliance - won 57 and 41 seats, respectively. The Mahayuti seat count stands at 230. The majority mark is 145.   

The Congress, the BJP's national rival, won just 16 seats, adding Maharashtra to its anthology of electoral losses in the recent times. Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena faction won 20 seats and Sharad Pawar's party, the other NCP faction, won 10 seats. The two parties, along with the Congress, form the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance. The Opposition combine's seat total is at a paltry 46 seats.

Hectic discussions have been on, both in Delhi and Mumbai, but there's still no clarity who will be the face of the new coalition government. 

Earlier this week, Eknath Shinde, the outgoing Chief Minister, said he would not be an "obstacle" and go by the decision of the BJP Central leadership regarding the top post. This effectively clears the way for Devendra Fadnavis, who has been Chief Minister twice and was deputy Chief Minister in the last Eknath Shinde-led government, the front-runner in the race.

Ajit Pawar's party has already stated that Mr Fadnavis was acceptable to it as Chief Minister.

Devendra Fadnavis will be chosen as the next Chief Minister, Union Minister and Republican Party of India-Athawale (RPI-A) chief Ramdas Athawale, a BJP ally, had claimed this week, adding to the buzz around the leader.