After 70 days of speculation and negotiations, Shiv Sena and BJP today announced continuation of their 25 year-old alliance. In a joint press conference held in Mumbai, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that people wanted Shiv Sena and BJP to run the government together and respecting sentiments of people and party workers both the parties have decided to form an alliance government. He said that totally 12 ministers from Shiv Sena will be inducted in the ministry including 5 cabinet ministers and 7 state ministers.

The chief minister said that name of the minister to be inducted from both the parties will be announced by evening and will be sent to the governor. He also said that there will be no deputy chief minister in the government. Senior leaders from both the parties were present at the press conference including Chandrakant Patil, Pankaja Munde, Ramdas Kadam and Subhash Desai amongst others. The BJP government in the state at present is in minority status in the assembly, and it was essential for the party to get Shiv Sena’s support to meet the 144-mark on the floor of the house.

The expansion of Devendra Fadnavis-led ministry in Maharashtra will take place tomorrow. The ceremony will be held at Vidhan Bhawan at 4 o’clock in the evening and preparations for the event are in full swing.