Devendra Fadnavis took the oath of office as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for the third time today in a grand ceremony at Azad Maidan in Mumbai. The event, attended by a host of dignitaries, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, marks a significant moment in Maharashtra’s political landscape.
Fadnavis, a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), will lead the state government alongside Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar, who were sworn in as deputy chief ministers.
The swearing-in ceremony saw the attendance of over 42,000 guests, with a star-studded lineup including Bollywood icons Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, and business tycoon Kumar Mangalam Birla. The event also hosted numerous Union ministers, chief ministers, and deputy chief ministers from various states.
Special arrangements were made to accommodate 40,000 BJP supporters and 2,000 VVIPs, including prominent religious figures. To ensure security, over 4,000 police personnel were deployed.
Power-Sharing Discussions and Coalition Strength
The formation of the new government follows two weeks of intense power-sharing negotiations within the Mahayuti alliance. The coalition, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP, secured a decisive victory in the Maharashtra assembly elections, with the BJP winning 132 seats and the alliance collectively holding 230 seats.
BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar indicated that the rest of the council of ministers would likely be sworn in before the start of the winter session of the assembly, ensuring a smooth administrative transition.
Fadnavis’ Political Journey
This marks Fadnavis’ third term as Chief Minister. He previously served from 2014 to 2019, leading a BJP-Shiv Sena government. After the 2019 elections, the BJP faced a political crisis when Shiv Sena, under Uddhav Thackeray, broke ties over the Chief Minister’s post. In an unexpected move, Fadnavis was sworn in again in 2019 with Ajit Pawar as his deputy, but the government collapsed within 72 hours due to a lack of support from NCP MLAs. Fadnavis later became the deputy chief minister in the current government led by Eknath Shinde, following the Shiv Sena’s split.
The new government is expected to set the stage for a stable and dynamic administration under Fadnavis’ leadership, marking a new chapter in Maharashtra’s political journey.
