Mumbai: Pulling off the biggest surprise in prevailing Maharashtra politics, Devendra Fadnavis administered oath as Chief Minister of Maharashtra by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhawan around 8 AM.
Besides Fadnavis, NCP legislature party leader, Ajit Pawar was sworn in as his Deputy CM.
Following the oath ceremony, Maharashtra governor, BS Koshiyari set November 30 as the deadline for the newly-formed BJP-NCP government in the state to prove majority on the floor of the state assembly, said sources.
Amid changing political developments, BJP MLA Girish Mahajan claimed that Ajit Pawar submitted the letter of all 54 NCP MLAs’ support to the Governor for support to BJP in the formation of the new government.
However, sources in the NCP said that Ajit Pawar has the support of at least 30 party MLAs.
Meanwhile, widespread celebrations across Maharashtra started shortly after Fadnavis and Pawar took oath as the chief minister and deputy chief minister of the state respectively.
With Fadnavis taking over as CM for the second consecutive term, month-long uncertainty over the government formation in the state ended.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar on taking oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister.
“Congratulations to @Dev_Fadnavisji and @AjitPawarSpeaksji on taking oath as the CM and Deputy CM of Maharashtra respectively. I am confident they will work diligently for the bright future of Maharashtra,” tweeted PM Modi soon after they took the oath.
BJP chief and Union Home Minister Amit Shah took to Twitter to congratulate Fadnavis and Ajit on the formation of a National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in Maharashtra.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted, “Congratulations to Devendra Fadnavis Ji and Ajit Pawar Ji for taking oath as the CM and Deputy CM of Maharashtra respectively. Under your leadership and good governance, the state will achieve new heights of development & provide a better future to the people of Maharashtra.”
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat also congratulated Fadnavis.
On the other hand, several opposition leaders including Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray and Congress Ahmad Patel and others expressed shock and displeasure over the development and accused BJP of misusing power and the constitutional authority of the state’s governor for forming the government.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar clarified that the decision of going with BJP to form the government in Maharashtra is of his nephew Ajit Pawar.
“Ajit Pawar`s decision to support the BJP to form the Maharashtra Government is his personal decision and not that of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). We place on record that we do not support or endorse this decision of his,” Sharad Pawar tweeted
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut alleged Ajit Pawar has betrayed his party chief and political mentor Sharad Pawar and said that the latter will regret his decision of joining hands with the BJP.
Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi taking to twitter said that he is still not sure about NCP joining hands with BJP.
With a prowling BJP on the loose, the Sena is facing a harrowing time protecting its legislators, who are being herded from place to place like sheep – once considered the tigers of the streets they roamed!
A party leader said that unless the Sena leadership does something drastic to return to earlier aggressive image, then it would remain at best a “spent force” struggling for breathing space among the existing big ticket parties.