'Unwell' Shinde: Need rest after campaign

Mumbai/New Delhi : The suspense over who will be Maharashtra's new CM will end on December 4, when the BJP legislature party elects its new leader, a senior party functionary said on Monday. Devendra Fadnavis, two-time former chief minister, is widely seen as the frontrunner for the top post.

There were reports that caretaker CM Eknath Shinde had conveyed his displeasure at not being given a second chance as CM by retreating to his village Dare in Satara district, but he attributed the visit to a need for rest after a hectic election campaign.

Shinde left for his native village in Satara district on Friday amid speculation that he was not happy with the way the new government was shaping up. The caretaker CM returned to his residence in Thane on Sunday afternoon. Shinde's sudden “illness” and decision to head to his native village after talks in Delhi with the BJP leadership had raised eyebrows. Preparations for the ceremony are underway. The BJP's two main allies in the Mahayuti coalition, the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party, are each tipped to be given deputy CM positions in the new government. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde, son of Eknath Shinde, dismissed media reports that he may get the deputy CM's post in the new state government.