After days of uncertainty, in the wake of it leading the MahaYuti to a spectacular victory in the Maharashtra Assembly polls, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) finally began to get its act together on Monday as it called its legislature party meeting on December 4 to elect its leader - ahead of the swearing-in ceremony scheduled to be held on the following day.

Though the BJP has not yet formally announced its Chief Ministerial choice, party sources said that the party’s central leadership has put a stamp of approval on the name of its senior leader and former CM Devendra Fadnavis for the top post in the state. At a meeting to be held at 10 am on December 4 in the Central Hall of the Maharashtra Vidhan Bhavan, Fadnavis will in all likelihood be elected as the BJP’s Legislature Party (BJPLP) leader, paving the way for his being sworn in as the next CM of Maharashtra on December 5.

The BJP’s Parliamentary Board is sending former Gujarat CM and the party’s in-charge for Punjab Vijay Rupani and Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as the central observers for the BJPLP meeting. After the BJPLP meeting, the leaders of the ruling MahaYuti, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) and NCP (Ajit Pawar), will call Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan, and formally stake claim to form a new government in the state.

While confirming that the BJPLP leader would be elected on December 4, Maharashtra party president Chandrashekar Bawankule announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be present at the swearing-in ceremony of the BJP-led MahaYuti government to be held at the historic Azad Maidan at 5 pm on December 5. The BJP is inviting prominent personalities from various walks of life for the swearing-in ceremony.

Ahead of the swearing-in ceremony, Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde of the Shiv Sena (ES) and Ajit Pawar (AP) are likely to meet in the afternoon of December 4 to discuss and formalise the nitty-gritties of the new government. While the CM and two Deputy CMs will take oath of office and secrecy at the swearing-in ceremony, it remains to be seen as to how many ministers from the BJP, Shiv Sena (ES) and NCP (AP) will be sworn into the office at the December 5 event.

Given that there are issues relating to the Cabinet portfolio allocations that need to be sorted out among the MahaYuti constituents, the three leaders are expected to meet immediately after the swearing-in ceremony and formalise the ministry allocations. Since the Maharashtra Assembly comprises 288 members, there can be a maximum of 43 ministers in the State Cabinet, a number that accounts for 15 percent of total members in the lower House of the State Legislature.

A struggle to grab key portfolios has begun among the MahaYuti constituents. The ministries like Home, Finance & Planning, Revenue and Urban development are the key portfolios in the State Cabinet. Apart from these four major portfolios, there will be a lot of bargaining among the MahaYuti constituents over other important portfolios like Agriculture, Industries, Water Resources, Forests, Rural Development, Energy, Public Health and Family Welfare, Women and Child Development and Excuse.

On his part, Shinde has been demanding the crucial state Home ministry, a portfolio, a portfolio that Fadnavis held when he was Deputy CM in the previous Eknath Shinde-led government. However, Fadnavis is reluctant to part with the Home portfolio, even after becoming the CM.

However, Shinde has reportedly made the Home portfolio as a pre-condition for his accepting the deputy chief minister’s post under Fadnavis as the CM. Ajit Pawar, who has held the Finance & Planning portfolio for a very long time, has been insisting that he be given the Finance & Planning ministry.

The BJP, which heads the MahaYuti, will have no other choice but to allocate Home and Finance & Planning portfolios to Shinde and Ajit Pawar respectively. As part of the coalition mantra, the BJP will try to keep its allies in good humour in matters relating to the portfolio allocations. While the BJP will keep the crucial post of Speaker in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, it may hand over the post of the Chairperson of Maharashtra Legislative Council to either the Shinde Sena or the Ajit Pawar-led NCP.

Given that the successive governments have long used the chairman posts of various state-run boards as carrot to keep the disgruntled MLAs under control, it remains to be seen if the new MahaYuti government will appoint the heads of the various State-run boards immediately after the formation of the government or the chief minister will use these appointments as lever to manage the ruling alliance legislators as done by his predecessors.