Maharashtra elections 2024: MLA Sanjay Shirsat pledges to follow Eknath Shinde on potential alliance with Sharad Pawar for CM post

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Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Shirsat has reiterated that his party will stand by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, no matter the direction he takes following the assembly election results. Shirsat, speaking ahead of the election results, affirmed that Shinde's leadership is trusted and that Shiv Sena MLAs will fully support his decisions, whether or not they align with their current alliances.

Shirsat, who represents Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (West) in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, made the comments when asked about the possibility of Shinde forming an alliance with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar in the event of Shinde seeking a second term as Chief Minister. The MLA stated, "We are committed to whatever Eknath Shinde decides. We will be solidly with him. We trust him, and that trust will always remain."

The remarks come ahead of the highly anticipated results of the Maharashtra state assembly elections, where the ruling Mahayuti alliance, comprising Shinde's Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and NCP's Ajit Pawar, will face off against the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, which includes Congress, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), and Sharad Pawar's NCP faction.

Shirsat, one of the Shiv Sena MLAs who supported Shinde during the 2022 rebellion that saw the CM break away from Uddhav Thackeray's leadership, emphasised that Shinde only makes decisions in the "right direction" for the party, a stance that has been demonstrated by his leadership so far. He further asserted that the decision regarding the future Chief Minister would be entirely in Shinde's hands, and whatever he chooses will be acceptable to the party, without dispute.

The comments came in response to a query about a possible scenario where Shinde does not retain the Chief Minister's position, even if Mahayuti wins. To this, Shirsat pointed out that the decision regarding the CM position is solely Shinde's prerogative and added that they would not comment further on this.

BJP leader Pravin Darekar quickly distanced the party from Shirsat's comments, stating that his remarks do not represent the official position of the party. Darekar reaffirmed that an alliance between Shinde and Sharad Pawar's NCP was unthinkable, given that both parties had contested against each other in the elections.

As per PTI, the voting for the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly concluded on November 20, with the results set to be announced on November 23.

(With inputs from PTI)