Fadnavis sworn in as Maharashtra chief minister; Shinde, Ajit Pawar as deputy chief ministers
MUMBAI// Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislature party leader Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as Maharashtra chief minister while colleagues Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar as deputy chief ministers at a grand ceremony on Thursday evening.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several Union ministers and chief ministers of various states, besides thousands of supporters of the BJP-led Mahayuti, attended the event at Azad Maidan, nearly two weeks after the assembly election results were declared on November 23.
Fadnavis (54), elected from Nagpur South West constituency, became chief minister for the third time. Governor C P Radhakrishnan administered the oath of office to Fadnavis, Shinde and Pawar.
BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar had earlier said that other members of the council of ministers would take oath before the winter session of the assembly begins.
Fadnavis emerged as a strong contender for the post of Chief Minister as BJP won 132 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly elections. The constituent parties of the Mahayuti – BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP – have a total of 230 seats in the Assembly.
