Devendra Fadnavis Maharashtra New CM – Devendra Fadnavis Maharashtra Oath-taking ceremony of new chief minister on Thursday

BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis is ready to take charge as chief minister of Maharashtra for a third term after a consensus was reached at a crucial BJP meeting on Wednesday, end days of suspense after the Mahayuti alliance returned to power in the Indian financial capital. Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde is likely to become deputy chief minister along with NCP’s Ajit Pawar.

Fadnavis, Shinde and Pawar will take oath at 5 pm on Thursday at the iconic Azad Maidan in Mumbai, BJP Maharashtra president Chandrashekhar Bawankule said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the oath-taking ceremony.

Addressing a festive event after being named the chief ministerial pick, Fadnavis reiterated PM Modi’s message: “ek hai, hai safe” slogan. This seemed to imply that the Mahayuti coalition was united.

At the BJP meeting, Fadnavis’ name for the top post was proposed by Vijay Rupani, who was sent as a party observer to Mumbai. The proposal was unanimously supported by senior BJP leaders like Sudhir Mungantiwar and Pankaja Munde.

This development comes almost two weeks after the Mahayuti won a massive mandate (232 seats out of 288) in the Assembly elections. However, the coalition failed to decide the contours of the new government after Shinde’s initial insistence on becoming chief minister again.

Last week, the talks progressed after Shinde publicly declared that he would not pose an “obstacle” to the formation of the government and said he would respect the decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Home Minister Amit Shah.

Fadnavis was widely seen as the chief architect of the BJP’s biggest-ever victory in Maharashtra, winning 132 of the 149 seats it contested. The RSS is also strongly backing Fadnavis for the top post in Maharashtra.

The development marks a stunning turnaround for Fadnavis, who has been the BJP’s biggest face in Maximum City in recent years.

FROM CHIEF MINISTER FOR 80 HOURS TO THIRD TERM

In 2014, Fadnavis became chief minister for the first time at the age of 44, making him the second youngest after Sharad Pawar. At the time, the BJP was in coalition with the then undivided Shiv Sena.

After the 2019 Assembly elections, when the Shiv Sena left the alliance amid a fight for the chief minister’s post on a rotational basis, the Fadnavis-led BJP joined hands with Ajit Pawar. Fadnavis was sworn in as chief minister and Ajit Pawar as deputy chief minister. However, the government lasted for around 80 hours while Ajit Pawar returned to the NCP.

Fadnavis was set to become chief minister again in 2022 after Eknath Shinde’s rebellion led to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. However, he then had to swallow a bitter pill and agreed to become deputy chief minister under Shinde.