Shiva Sena leader Eknath Shinde will be the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

This was announced by BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis in a joint press conference with Shinde on Thursday.

He also informed that the swearing-in ceremony will be held today at 7.30pm, adding that he wont be a part of the cabinet.

“After the swearing-in ceremony today, we will have a cabinet expansion and Shiv Sena and BJP leaders will take the oath. I will stay out of the government,” he told ANI.

At present, the BJP has 106 MLAs in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly and Shinde is leading 39 rebel Shiv Sena legislators and some Independents. After the death of a Shiv Sena MLA recently, the current strength of the Assembly is reduced to 287, thus the majority mark is 144.

Earlier yesterday, Uddhav Thackeray resigned as Maharashtra Chief Ministe after Supreme Court upheld Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s call for a floor test.