As BJP revelled, Fadnavis held key meetings with cops, others

While the delirious Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) erupted in celebrations on Friday, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was closeted in a series of meetings including with top police officials, party sources said here on Saturday.

Fadnavis' absence along with some other leaders, at the revelry, became a point of discussion amid speculation that he was still in a dark mood after the post of DyCM was abruptly thrust on him by the party top leadership on Thursday (June 30).

An aide close to him claimed that on the contrary, Fadnavis had a series of meetings tied up with several top police brass, party leaders and officials as he could be handling several sensitive portfolios, including probably the home department.

The meetings were to chalk out strategies ahead of the Special Assembly Session of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on July 3-4 to elect the new Speaker and to seek the 'vote of confidence' for the new government headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Late in the night, Shinde-Fadnavis also held a separate meeting to ensure the legislature session goes off smoothly and to strategise the crucial cabinet formation process, likely to be set in motion after the confidence vote.

On Friday, hundreds of BJP leaders and workers toasted the new regime of Shinde-Fadnavis taking oath on June 30 after the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government headed by ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray - ending a 10-day long political crisis created by a rebellion in the Shiv Sena.