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Govt formation in Maharashtra — Rajnath to visit Mumbai after Diwali

BJP is sticking to Devendra Fadnavis as its first choice for

Maharashtra CM

, ignoring the clamour for Nitin Gadkari made by some party members.

NEW DELHI/NAGPUR/MUMBAI: The central BJP leadership is sticking to Devendra Fadnavis as its first choice as Maharashtra chief minister and has taken a dim view of the lobbying for Union rural development minister Nitin Gadkari .BJP sources dismissed as inconsequential the “show of strength” by Gadkari partisans who, according to reports, had on Tuesday gathered more than 30 MLAs to sign on to the ‘Gadkari-as-CM’ campaign. “This was an amateurish and non-political act,” said a senior party source, reflecting the leadership’s annoyance.That the muscle-flexing by Gadkari loyalists came in spite of clear indications of the party leadership preferring Fadnavis for the top job was interpreted as an act of insubordination and has not gone down well with the leadership. Gadkari has distanced himself from the number-flaunting by his camp, saying he did not wish to return to state politics.The parade of MLAs organized by his backers came after the leadership decided to form the government without waiting for Shiv Sena to reveal its hand. Sena has since mellowed, with Uddhav Thackeray conveying his desire to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.BJP sources said the first-ever BJP CM of the state will head a lean team of ministers. In keeping with Modi’s concept of ‘minimum government, maximum governance’, the ministry may comprise 25 to 30 members.Also, while earlier there were indications that Fadnavis would be sworn in on Monday, the tight line-up of events and delay in opening formal talks with the Sena may push back the function to Tuesday or Wednesday, sources said.Modi is certain to attend the swearing-in ceremony, sources said. On Saturday, the PM will be in Mumbai for the inauguration of a hospital and on Sunday, he is hosting a ‘chai pe charcha’ for NDA constituents, which Sena too will attend.The meeting of new BJP MLAs with central observer Rajnath Singh will happen only on Monday, and it is only after that that the swearing-in can take place.Fadnavis landed in Nagpur from Mumbai on Tuesday night, soon after a group of Vidarbha MLAs had called upon Gadkari at his residence and said he should be CM. Fadnavis refused to speak on the issue on Wednesday, saying, “What is wrong on the part of newly elected MLAs, many of them first-timers, if they call on a senior leader?”The Nagpur South-West MLA, who won an election for the fourth time, spent the day meeting people at his residence. He is expected to stay put in Nagpur for the next couple of days and celebrate Diwali with family. Looking his usual calm self, Fadnavis seemed to exude confidence on Wednesday.However, sources in the party said the bitter factionalism that has come to the fore in the Maharashtra BJP has dented the BJP’s reputation as a party with a difference.“At this rate, the BJP will start looking and behaving like the Congress party which is a web of camps and groups,” a senior party functionary remarked.On Wednesday, state BJP leaders Sudhir Mungantiwar and Vinod Tawde indicated that they wanted Gadkari to occupy the CM’s ‘gaddi’ and three Nagpur BJP MLAs said they would vacate their seats for him. “There is a section in the party which feels Gadkari should be at the helm if the Sena is to join the government. He can keep the Sena on a tight leash,” said the party functionary.On the other hand, Fadnavis’ supporters argue that the Sena has learnt its lesson, and there is no need to further snub the party. “Fadnavisji may lack Gadkariji’s aggressiveness. But Fadnavisji will surely develop his own way of engaging the Sena,” said a Fadnavis loyalist. “However, the bald truth is that the state BJP is divided into the Gadkari-Fadnavis camp, and this seems like the Congress party,” he added.The spectre of the BJP’s Congressification in the days to come haunts many in the party, especially those steeped in the RSS ‘pracharak’ tradition, said BJP observers.The RSS has kept itself aloof from the groupism in the state BJP. “The RSS is in no way concerned with the latest goings-on in the BJP. It is for the BJP to iron out its internal issues,” said Pramod Bapat, senior RSS functionary who is in charge of the coastal Konkan region, including Mumbai.However, Bapat said it would be “preposterous” to say that the on-going spat over CMship indicated that the BJP was set to go the Congress way. “It would be too early to talk of the BJP’s Congressification. The developments that are happening are topical in nature,” he pointed out.