DEVENDRA Fadnavis on Thursday evening took oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister, while leaders of the BJP-led MahaYuti alliance, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, were sworn in as Deputy Chief Ministers at a grand ceremony in south Mumbai’s sprawling Azad Maidan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several Union Ministers and Chief Ministers of various States besides thousands of supporters of the MahaYuti alliance were present at the ceremony, which took place almost a fortnight after results of the Assembly elections were declared on November 23. No other ministers were sworn in. The Ministry will be expanded next week, ahead of the Winter Session of State legislature in Nagpur, sources said.

 

Those present included Union Ministers Amit Shah, J P Nadda, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Chief Ministers of various NDA-ruled States were also present, including Yogi Adityanath, Nitish Kumar, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Mohan Yadav and Pramod Sawant. Leading lights from Bollywood and India Inc, including Shah Rukh Khan and Mukesh Ambani, were among those present at the ceremony. Fadnavis, 54, elected from Nagpur South West constituency, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor C P Radhakrishnan, who also swore in Shinde (60) and Pawar (65). Fadnavis 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. The BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP ‘Mahayuti’ coalition has a commanding majority of 230 seats. A delegation of the ruling MahaYuti alliance met the Governor at Raj Bhawan on Wednesday, soon after Fadnavis was unanimously elected State BJP legislature party leader. At a press conference at Raj Bhawan immediately after the meeting, Shinde said, “I am happy that at this place around two and a half years ago, Fadnavis had recommended that I should become the CM. Now, we have given a letter of recommendation from Shiv Sena for Fadnavis to become CM.

 

This Government is being formed in a healthy atmosphere.” Fadnavis, who has served as Chief Minister twice, led the BJP-Shiv Sena Government from 2014 to 2019. After the 2019 elections, when the then Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena broke ties with the BJP over the CM post, Fadnavis was sworn in again with Ajit Pawar as his deputy. However, that Government lasted only 72 hours due to Pawar’s failure to secure sufficient support from NCP MLAs. Following a split in the Shiv Sena in 2022, Fadnavis became Deputy Chief Minister in the MahaYuti Government led by Shinde. Police made special arrangements to accommodate the more than 40,000 party supporters who attended the oath taking ceremony on Thursday, and a separate seating arrangement was made for the around 2,000 VVIPs, an official said. More than 4,000 police personnel were deployed for security during the swearing-in ceremony, the official said. At least 3,500 police personnel and 520 officers were deployed for security arrangements, he added. Meanwhile, as Fadnavis took oath as CM for the third time, his banker and singer wife Amruta called it a “beautiful day.”

 

“This is a happy occasion and the sense of responsibility is greater,” she said. Born on July 22, 1970, in a middle-class family from Maharastra’s second capital Nagpur, he got lessons in politics from his father and former legislator Gangadharrao Fadnavis who was an active Jan Sangh activist. His mother Sarita played a crucial role in his upbringing. Since his college days, Fadnavis was associated with the RSS and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad apart from his association with various social organisations. In 1992 Fadnavis at the age of 22 years entered into electoral politics and became a corporator. In 1997, he was elected as one of the youngest mayors of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation. Considering his dedication and administrative capabilities, the BJP gave him a lot of opportunities to stamp his mark in politics. Fadnavis became a legislator for the first time in 1999 and was later re-elected successively in 2004, 2009, 2014, 2019 and 2024 elections. He became the state BJP General Secretary in 2010 and later assumed the charge of state unit chief in 2013. He created his own identity by raking up various issues including corruption and scams against the Congress-NCP Government. He played a major role in BJP crossing 100 seats by winning 122 seats in the 2014 elections.

 

 

 

MAHARASHTRA Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said he will provide a stable Government over the next five years and the State under his leadership will see politics of change and not revenge. Addressing his first press conference after taking over as Chief Minister, he informed that election of a new Assembly Speaker will take place on December 9 during a three-day special session of the house beginning from December 7. Fadnavis said the mandate of people in the 2024 Assembly elections reflected their expectations and love, and he is feeling the pressure of their hope. He maintained Maharashtra will grow with same speed in social, infrastructure, industrial sectors. Fadnavis said the new Cabinet, which now has Deputy CMs Eknath Shinde (Shiv Sena) and Ajit Pawar (NCP), will be expanded before the Winter Session of the State Legislature which will he held in Nagpur later this month. Meanwhile, signing his first file after taking charge of office, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday approved a proposal to provide financial assistance of Rs five lakh for a patient awaiting bone marrow transplant. Pune-based Chandrakant Kurhade’s wife had sought help from the Chief Minister’s relief fund for her husband’s treatment.

 

The Chief Minister put his signature on the file before he chaired the first cabinet meeting. On reaching Mantralaya, the three leaders were given a traditional welcome by the staff. Fadnavis and his deputies then offered floral tributes to the portraits of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Jijabai, B R Ambedkar and Mahatma Phule. Chief Secretary Sujata Saunik was also present on this occasion. Fadnavis, Shinde and Pawar then chaired the first Cabinet meeting of the new Government and interacted with senior officials. Shankarrao Chavan, Vilasrao Deshmukh and Ashok Chavan were Chief Minister twice, while Vasant dada Patil and Sharad Pawar occupied the post four times.