Eknath Shinde, not Devendra Fadnavis, to be Maharashtra Chief Minister

nath Shinde will be the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra, not Devendra Fadnavis, announced the BJP leader on Thursday. 

Shinde, the rebel Shiv Sena leader, will be sworn in at 7 pm. The dramatic announcement came after Fadnavis and Shinde met Governor B S Koshyari at Raj Bhavan.

It was considered a foregone conclusion that Fadnavis will become the CM for the third time, in alliance with the Shinde-led Sena rebels.

Fadnavis said, "After the swearing-in ceremony today, we will have a cabinet expansion and Shiv Sena and BJP leaders will take the oath." Shinde and other rebel MLAs, who arrived in Goa on Wednesday night from Guwahati, stayed at a resort at Dona Paula.

Earlier, soon after his social media address to the people, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray drove down to Raj Bhavan and tendered his resignation to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari late on Wednesday.