Maharashtra Assembly Polls 2014: Devendra Fadnavis, Eknath Khadse, Sudhir Mungantiwar in the race of next Maharashtra chief minister

MUMBAI: The BJP may take a few more days to name the next chief minister of Maharashtra, with various lobbies pushing for different candidates and posing serious competition to Devendra Fadnavis.

The party on Tuesday postponed the meeting of its legislators that it had called to pick the chief minister, mainly because some senior leaders including Nitin Gadkari and Eknath Khadse said the candidate should be chosen only after taking all MLAs into confidence.

According to state BJP leaders, both Gadkari and Khadse are not in favour of selecting Fadnavis, adding that along with these two leaders the party’s former Maharashtra president Sudhir Mungantiwar are serious contenders in the race.

Gadkari met PM Modi on Monday night to discuss the situation arrived in Nagpur on Tuesday to meet RSS brass. Although nobody has spoken out directly against Fadnavis, it is clear that sections of the party are not in favour of his name being projected as the front runner, the leaders mentioned earlier said.

“Our demand is that Nitin Gadkari should come to Maharashtra as chief minister. He is the most acceptable name for all the MLAs and all party activists. He would be the best choice from every aspect,” Mungantiwar said.

If Gadkari’s name is not finalised, Mungantiwar is assured that Gadkari will insist on his name, a senior leader said. Khadse was the state finance minister in the Sena-BJP government 15 years ago and is said to be reluctant to work under Fadnavis. Mungantiwar, from Vidarbha, is considered a Gadkari acolyte and said to be willing to work only under Gadkari.