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A press conference in which Devendra Fadnavis announced that he would take oath as the Maharashtra chief minister at 5.30 pm on Thursday, capping days of speculation, also served as the stage for some banter between allies, with Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde taking a light-hearted dig at NCP President Ajit Pawar. 

Refusing to clear the air on whether he would take up the post of deputy chief minister under Devendra Fadnavis after being seen as a claimant for the top job, a visibly exasperated Mr Shinde said during the press conference on Wednesday that he would let people know later. 

When Mr Pawar interjected to say that he would definitely take oath as one of the deputy chief ministers and nothing would stop him, eliciting laughter, Mr Shinde quipped, clapping his hands:  “Dada ko anubhav hai, subah bhi lene ka aur shaam ko bhi lene ka (He has experience taking oath in the morning and the evening).”

Joining in the fun, Mr Pawar said in Marathi – barely controlling his laughter – that the last time he and Mr Fadnavis took oath in the morning, they could not run a government for long and that they would stay for the entire term of five years this time.

Both Mr Shinde and the NCP chief were talking about 2019 when Mr Pawar, who was still part of the united NCP led by his uncle Sharad Pawar, took oath as the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra with Devendra Fadnavis as the chief minister in an early morning ceremony at Raj Bhavan.

This dispensation lasted all of 80 hours after Ajit Pawar could not manage to get the support of enough NCP MLAs to align with the BJP and a government of the united Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress was then formed with Uddhav Thackeray as chief minister. Ajit Pawar was the deputy chief minister in this government as well. 

The Thackeray government, however, also did not last its full term after a rebellion by Eknath Shinde, who split the Shiv Sena in 2022 and went on to become the chief minister. Mr Pawar then rebelled himself, splitting the NCP, and took oath as the deputy chief minister – alongside Devendra Fadnavis – the next year. 

In Wednesday’s press conference, Mr Shinde also thanked Mr Fadnavis for meeting him on Tuesday and asking him to be part of the government but said he would make his intentions clear later, given that there was still some time for the swearing-in ceremony. 

The oath ceremony will take place at Azad Maidan in Mumbai and will see Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a host of other BJP and NDA leaders in attendance.

The Bihar police have made a shocking claim in the case of continuous threats to gangster-turned-political leader Pappu Yadav. The whole thing, they claim, was a scheme engineered to get the Independent MP from Purnia the coveted “Z category” security.

The police say the man arrested for allegedly threatening Pappu Yadav – 21-year-old Rambabu Yadav — is a worker of his Janadhikar party who was talked into sending the threat.

Rambabu Yadav had released a video on December 1, where he said Pappu Yadav should apologize to Lawrence Bishnoi or else he will be killed within the next five days. 

Purnia Superintendent of Police Kartikeya Sharma said that Rambabu has no connection with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and he is a supporter of Pappu Yadav. 

During questioning, Rambabu admitted that the MP’s associates had asked him to issue the threats, he added. In return, he was paid Rs 2000 and was promised another Rs 2 lakh in future. He was also told that he would be given a big rank within the party.

The police officer, however, refused to reveal the names the Pappu Yadav’s aides who were involved in the plan, saying the investigation is still in progress.

Pappu Yadav has responded to the police claim by saying the government is not serious about his security. 

Pappu Yadav, apparently received multiple threats after he publicly vowed to destroy the network of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi after the murder of NCP’s Baba Siddique in Mumbai. The crime is suspected to have been conducted by the Bishnoi gang.  

Rambabu Yadav was the second man to be arrested in the case. Earlier a man was arrested by the Delhi Police.