Today, Devendra Fadnavis took the oath of office as Maharashtra’s Chief Minister for the third time in a lavish ceremony held in Azad Maidan in Mumbai. Along with a number of other dignitaries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the occasion.
This is Fadnavis’ third term as the Maharashtra Chief Minister. NCP leader Ajit Pawar and Shiv Sena chairman Eknath Shinde were also sworn in as Maharashtra’s deputy chief ministers alongside the BJP leader.
The BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar responded, “It is most likely that the council of ministers will be sworn in before the winter session of the assembly starts, so as to avoid administrative disruption,” when asked when other ministers would take their oaths.
Intense power-sharing discussions
The Mahayuti alliance, which overwhelmingly won the Maharashtra assembly elections, engaged in hard discussions for two weeks before the new administration was formed. Together with allies Shiv Sena and NCP, the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition has a commanding majority of 230 seats. The BJP alone won 132.
Star-studded ceremony
More than 42,000 people attended the swearing-in ceremony, including well-known visitors like Madhuri Dixit, Shah Rukh Khan, Sachin Tendulkar, and Kumar Mangalam Birla. PM Modi was joined at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan by a number of Union ministers, chief ministers, and deputy chief ministers from different states.
While a separate seating space was reserved for 2,000 VVIPs, including religious leaders, special arrangements were made to accommodate 40,000 BJP members. For security, more than 4,000 police officers were sent in.
Fadnavis’ third term
The BJP-Shiv Sena government was led by Fadnavis, who has been chief minister twice, from 2014 to 2019. Ajit Pawar was sworn in as Fadnavis’ deputy after the 2019 elections, when the Shiv Sena, led by Uddhav Thackeray, severed its ties with the BJP over the chief ministership. This government, however, was only in place for 72 hours since Pawar was unable to get enough NCP MLA backing. The Mahayuti government, led by Shinde, appointed Fadnavis as deputy chief minister after a split in the Shiv Sena.
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