Devendra Fadnavis is set to take oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan tomorrow, starting his third term in the top post. The BJP leadership finalised Mr Fadnavis today as its choice for the Chief Minister post, potentially ending the long-drawn suspense over who would get the top job. Soon after, his name was placed before the newly elected legislators and their approval finalised his selection.

The developments are taking place as Azad Maidan in Mumbai preps for the grand oath ceremony, two weeks after the BJP-led Mahayuti’s mammoth victory in the state polls. Mr Fadnavis will today call on Governor CP Radhakrishnan to officially stake claim to form the government.

The BJP’s core committee’s selection of Mr Fadnavis caps the 11-day suspense in Maharashtra over who will get the Chief Minister post. Following the poll result, in which Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the Assembly, Shiv Sena leaders stressed that Mr Shinde led the alliance into the polls and must stay on as Chief Minister. The BJP, however, made it clear that it would claim the top post this time, having won 132 out of the 148 seats it contested. Eventually, Mr Shinde publicly said he wouldn’t be an obstacle in government formation and would accept any decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on the Chief Minister post.

Mr Shinde did not have much leverage to push a hard bargain since the BJP now needs only one of its allies to reach the majority mark in the Assembly and the NCP has reportedly pledged its support. But despite the Sena chief’s public statement clearing his position on the top post, the posturing by party leaders continued, with statements stressing that Mr Shinde’s contribution to the Mahayuti win must not be overlooked.

A man opened fire at Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal this morning while he was serving his penance at the entrance of the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The shooter was overpowered by people present on the spot. More details on this are awaited.

Sixty-two-year-old Badal, a former Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, is performing ‘sewadar’ duties after the Akal Takht pronounced the ‘tankhah’ (religious punishment) for him and several other Akali Dal leaders for “mistakes” committed during the party’s rule in Punjab from 2007 to 2017. He has been asked to serve as a ‘sewadar’, wash dishes and clean shoes at Golden Temple and several other gurdwaras. 

#WATCH | Punjab: Bullets fired at Golden Temple premises in Amritsar where SAD leaders, including party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, are offering ‘seva’ under the religious punishments pronounced for them by Sri Akal Takht Sahib, on 2nd December.

Details awaited. pic.twitter.com/CFQaoiqLkx

— ANI (@ANI) December 4, 2024

Over the past two days, Mr Badal has been sitting at the gate of Golden Temple with a spear in one hand and dressed in blue ‘sewadar’ uniform. The Akali Dal leader’s leg is in a cast and he is in a wheelchair.

The incident occurred around 9 am today, shortly after Mr Badal had taken the ‘sewadar’s’ place at the Golden Temple gate. The shooter has been identified as Narain Singh from Gurdaspur district, about 75 km from Amritsar. Visuals from the spot show him slowly approaching the gate. Then he quickly brings out a gun. A man standing near Mr Badal spots him in time and holds his hand. The gun goes off but misses Mr Badal and others near him and hits the wall. The shooter has been arrested and police are investigating the motive behind the shocking attack.

Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said alert police officers Rishpal Singh, Jasbir and Parminder Singh managed to foil the attack. “Narain Singh has a criminal record. We have registered a case and the incident is probed from all angles. I appeal to people to maintain peace.”

The police officer said deploying cops at the Golden Temple was a challenging task. “We cannot deploy cops in uniform because of religious feelings. It is difficult to frisk people too. We did what was possible and the result shows how prepared we were. I congratulate the officers for rising to the occasion.”

According to sources in the security establishment, Narain Singh has links with Khalistani terrorist group Babbar Khalsa. He is considered the mastermind of the 2004 Burail jailbreak case in which four inmates escaped prison after digging a 94-foot tunnel. These four prisoners were Babbar Khalsa chief Jagtar Singh Hawara, former Chief Minister Beant Singh’s assassins Paramjit Singh Bheora and Jagtar Singh Tara and a murder convict Devi Singh.

Earlier, Sukhbir Badal admitted his mistakes before the Akal Takth. These mistakes included pardoning Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a 2007 blasphemy case during the SAD rule. The Akal Takht pronounced the punishment nearly three months after he was declared ‘tankhaiya’ (guilty of religious misconduct).

Former SAD MP Naresh Gujral said this attack shows criminals were roaming freely in Punjab and that the law and order situation has broken down. “It is very unfortunate that this attack took place, we are thankful to the Almighty that Sukhbir Badal was not harmed. Our party has been saying time and again that the law and order situation in Punjab is deplorable. The government has failed on this front and nothing is being done. You can see an attack at the gate of the Golden Temple,” Mr Gujral told NDTV.

BJP leader and former Union Minister Vijay Sampla has termed the attack unfortunate and said an attack on Golden Temple’s sewadar amounts to an attack on Golden Temple. Congress MP Manish Tewari said Mr Badal was serving his sentence humbly. “This is very sad. It is God’s grace that he is unhurt. This should be probed and the guilty must be punished.”

Aman Arora from the ruling Aam Aadmi Party said there is nothing wrong with Punjab’s law and order situation. “This is one particular incident. Punjab police were alert and prepared to deal with this incident. Everything is in the control.” On the Opposition’s criticism, he said, “I don’t want to politicise it, but if they want, I would ask Akalis what they did for 10 years because of which Sukhbir Badal has to perform these duties.” 

After an assassination attempt, Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal was spotted washing utensils at the Golden Temple, continuing his ‘seva’. The attack, which occurred while Badal was fulfilling his duties, ended without injury thanks to the intervention of bystanders, resulting in the immediate apprehension of assailant Narain Singh.