Shinde, Fadnavis meet Shah amid buzz over Maharashtra cabinet reshuffle

Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy, Devendra Fadnavis, on Friday met Union home minister Amit Shah, amid speculation over expansion of the council of ministers after the formation of the new government earlier this week.

Shinde and Fadnavis, who arrived here late Friday evening, are also scheduled to meet President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and BJP chief J P Nadda during the visit, party functionaries familiar with the matter said.

Soon after reaching Delhi, Shinde and Fadnavis drove to Maharashtra Sadan. The discussions with Shah are learnt to have centred around the power-sharing formula between the BJP and the Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena, functionaries said.

“I am confident that under the guidance of Narendra Modi, both of you will serve the people faithfully and take Maharashtra to newer heights of development,” Shah tweeted, while sharing photographs of his meeting with Shinde and Fadnavis.

Their visit to Delhi comes ahead of a crucial hearing in the Supreme Court on July 11 on a petition filed by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena seeking disqualification of Shinde and 15 MLAs of his faction.