Maha govt formation: BJP appoints Nirmala, Rupani as observers

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday named Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani as central observers for its Maharashtra legislature party's meeting, where the MLAs will elect their leader, who is likely to be the state's next chief minister.

Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule has said that the oath-taking ceremony of the new Mahayuti government will take place on December 5 evening at the Azad Maidan in south Mumbai.

The BJP MLAs will meet before the ceremony to elect their leader.

Though the party has made no announcement, former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, the deputy chief minister in the outgoing government, is being seen as the frontrunner for the key position.

The party's two main allies, the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party, are each tipped to be given deputy CM positions in the new government.