Amidst the talks among different political parties to form the new government and who will be the next chief minister in Maharashtra, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari flexed his muscles by meeting as many as 40 newly-elected BJP MLAs in Nagpur on Tuesday.

The former BJP chief also said that he is ready to accept any responsibility given to him by the party’s central leadership.

“However, I have already clarified my stand not to return to state politics. It’s for the party’s central leadership to decide and I will accept any responsibility given to me,” said Gadkari.

In an interesting development, Nagpur-East MLA Krishna Khopde today offered to quit and vacate his seat to pave way for his mentor Nitin Gadkari for the post of Chief Minister.

However, sources in the party told that Devendra Fadnavis remains the front-runner for the chief minister’s post.
Fadnavis emerged as the frontrunner for the chief minister’s post after overcoming possible challenges from other party veterans like Eknath Khadse and Vinod Tawde. But now he may have to deal with Gadkari’s potential challenge as well.

Both Fadnavis and Gadkari are from Nagpur and both enjoy the confidence of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Probably the RSS has to take the crucial decision to form the new government and who will be the next Chief Minister in Maharashtra.