Team News Riveting
Mumbai, December 5
Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as Chief Minister of Maharashtra Thursday evening, ending nearly two weeks of suspense and a tug-of-war between the BJP and the Shiv Sena over the top post.
Shiv Sena Chief Eknath Shinde and NCP boss Ajit Pawar, whose stellar returns in last month’s election boosted the Mahayuti alliance to a thumping win, were sworn in as Deputy Chief Ministers.
At a grand ceremony that was attended by several dignitaries, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, Maharashtra Governor C P Radhakrishnan administered the oath of office to Devendra Fadnavis and his deputies. The event was held at Azad ground in which Chief Ministers of BJP and NDA-ruled states, cabinet ministers, industrialists and film stars were present.
The formation of the new government comes after two weeks of intense negotiations following the November 20 state assembly polls and results on November 23. Fadnavis, 54, who represents Nagpur South West constituency, emerged as the frontrunner for the top post as he was the face of the BJP’s campaign and led the party to victory in 132 seats in the 288-member House. Together with allies Shiv Sena and NCP, the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition has a commanding majority of 230 seats.
After assuming the office, all three paid floral tributes to Maratha icon Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Dr BR Ambedkar at Mantralaya, the HQ of the Maharashtra government. Fadnavis is now a three-time Chief Minister in addition to being a six-time MLA.
In his first remarks after taking charge, Maharashtra Chief Minister outlined his vision for the state, declaring, “… from here (on) we will work for the development of Maharashtra and we will not stop.” He also seemed to reach out to Sena leader Eknath Shinde, saying, “The direction and speed is the same… only our roles have changed… We will take decisions in Maharashtra’s interest.”
