Putting an end to all speculations on him being the next Maharashtra Chief Minister, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday clarified that he has no intention to return to state politics.

“No question of me returning to Maharashtra, I will continue to work in Delhi,” Gadkari told reporters.

Speculations have been making rounds that the RSS has apparently put out a roadmap to install Nitin Gadkari as the new CM of the state and thereby scale down its demand of chief ministership on a rotation basis.

He further said that a decision will be made soon on government formation in the state, adding that Devendra Fadnavis should be the Chief Minister. He also claimed that the RSS and its chief Mohan Bhagwat have no connection with regard to the matter.

Gadkari also stated that the BJP is in talks with the Shiv Sena and exuded confidence that the ally will support the saffron party.

Reports suggest that RSS would have liked Gadkari to look after the situation in Maharashtra. But Gadkari is reportedly not interested in returning to state politics and would rather continue at Centre.

Both Fadnavis and Gadkari are from Nagpur and in spite of the apparent cordial relationship in front of the camera, the friction between the two is an open secret.

Rumours grew stronger as, amid the impasse over government formation in Maharashtra, Gadkari reportedly cancelled all his appointments and is set to meet Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat in Nagpur later in the day.

The development comes on the heels of the Shiv Sena approaching the RSS to help end the deadlock and it informally is backing Gadkari to resolve the deadlock.

Earlier, in a letter to Mohan Bhagwat, Sena leader Kishore Tiwari, known to be close to Union minister Nitin Gadkari, appealed the RSS chief to step into the current political scenario, while alleging that the BJP is not following “coalition dharma”.

Tiwari said the state has delivered a mandate in favour of the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance. “But the BJP’s failure to follow ‘coalition dharma’ is delaying the formation of a new government in Maharashtra. Therefore, the RSS should intervene and resolve the issue,” the letter read.

The Shiv Sena earlier on Thursday, once again, reiterated that the next CM will be from the party.

Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who claims the support of 175 MLAs, repeated his challenge to the BJP to stake a claim to the government and produce 145 signatures of support – the simple majority mark in the 288-member Assembly.

Raut also brushed off alleged reports of Shiv Sena shifting its MLAs to a resort amid the political standoff in the state.

The Sena and the BJP are locked in a tussle since the Uddhav Thackeray-led party raised demand for the chief minister’s post on a rotational basis and implementation of a “50:50 power-sharing” formula, which entails equal allocation of ministerial portfolios.

The BJP has rejected both the demands, which resulted in the formal power talks, which are yet to take off, hitting a wall.