No one objected to Devendra Fadnavis as CM before elections, says Amit Shah

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan Wednesday said that his party was on alert to prevent to avert a possible "Operation Lotus" in Maharashtra by defecting MLAs from other parties, PTI reported. He was referring to BJP leader Narayan Rane's statement on Tuesday that former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had asked Rane to start work on forming a BJP-led government in the state.

Meanwhile, a joint committee comprising Congress and NCP leaders will hold a meeting to finalise the common minimum programme (CMP) to form government in the state. Senior Congress leaders Ashok Chavan, Balasaheb Thorat and Manikrao Thakare also met Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and Sanjay Raut to discuss the modalities of CMP.

Earlier today, the Shiv Sena said they won't move to the Supreme Court to challenge Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari 's decision to not grant it more time to demonstrate its majority. Sources in the Sena said that it is considering whether to press the petition or file a fresh petition against the president's rule.

(With inputs from Indian Express)