Mumbai: Even as the Mahayuti alliance partners were busy hammering out a formula for forming the new government, the General Administration Department (GAD) in Mantralaya took possession of the minister’s offices on Friday evening.

A directive had asked the staffers to vacate the offices allotted to the Eknath Shinde-led government as it was no longer in office.

It is said that the decision to ask the ministers’ staffers to vacate the offices was issued after it became clear that only the CM had been asked to officiate as the interim arrangement until the next government takes over, and not the entire cabinet.

The staffers attached to the minister’s offices have been asked to join their parent departments since they are taken on deputation for the job. The government accommodation allotted to the ministers can be retained for 15 days, and thereafter they have to vacate it as per the government orders.

It has been a week since the results of the Assembly elections were announced, yet the largest party, the BJP, along with a few allied parties, has not elected the chief minister or the leader of the legislative party.
Once the chief minister’s name is finalised in Delhi, a meeting will be held with the BJP’s newly elected MLAs, during which the process of selecting the legislative leader will take place. Earlier, Devendra Fadnavis was appointed as the leader of the BJP’s legislative party.

Apart from the BJP, the Nationalist Congress Party (SP) and the Congress are also yet to elect their legislative party leaders. A meeting of the MLAs from the NCP(SP) was held, but the process of selecting the legislative party leader is yet to be completed.

On November 27, a meeting was held with newly elected Congress MLAs and senior leaders. The gathering was attended by state president Nana Patole, former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Balasaheb Thorat, Vijay Wadettiwar, Naseem Khan, Amit Deshmukh, Aslam Shaikh, Amin Patel and other prominent leaders. A resolution was unanimously passed in this meeting granting full authority to the national president Mallikarjun Kharge to decide on the appointment of the Congress Legislature Party leader and group leader. The proposal was presented by Patole. Vijay Wadettiwar approved the proposal and Dr Nitin Raut and Amit Deshmukh supported it. However, the Kharge has not yet made any decision.

The day after the election results were announced, Eknath Shinde held a meeting with the newly elected MLAs of the Shiv Sena, where he was unanimously elected as the leader of the legislative party. Similarly, Shiv Sena (UBT) elected Bhaskar Jadhav as their legislative party leader and Aaditya Thackeray as Shiv Sena (UBT) leader. Previously, Shinde held the position of legislative party leader before his rebellion.

Meanwhile, the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar has chosen Ajit Pawar as their legislative party leader.

Mumbai: The Mumbai Crime Branch’s Anti-Extortion Unit arrested three Bihar residents on Thursday night in the Pydhonie area of Byculla and seized a cache of weapons.

The accused Abhishek Kumar Patel, 26, Siddharth Suman alias Golu, 23, and Rachit Mandal alias Pushpak, 27, reportedly brought the weapons to Mumbai two days before their arrest.

A trap was laid near Prabhu Hotel on PD Melo Road, Byculla, and the trio was apprehended. The haul included two pistols, one revolver, three single-bore country-made firearms, two empty magazines, and 67 live cartridges. A case has been registered at Byculla police station and further investigations are underway.