The Maharashtra government on Wednesday released the official chief minister oath taking ceremony’s invitation card. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis is scheduled to be sworn in as the chief minister of Maharashtra on Thursday. Fadnavis’ name was finalised in the BJP's core committee meeting held on Wednesday before its Maharashtra legislature party meet, sources said.
Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman, former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Fadnavis were present in the BJP's core committee meeting. The BJP appointed Sitharaman and Rupani as central observers for its Maharashtra legislature party's meeting.
Ahead of the legislature party meet, BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar said the Mahayuti partners will meet Governor C P Radhakrishnan at 3 pm on Wednesday to stake claim to form a government in the state.
Fadnavis on Tuesday met caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at his official residence, 'Varsha’, the first in-person meeting since their discussions in Delhi last week for government formation.
While the hour-long meeting's details remain unclear, some political observers view it as an outreach effort by the BJP to placate an ally which is weighing its options, while others believe it served as a preliminary discussion regarding the swearing-in ceremony set for December 5.
Preparations are in full swing for the swearing-in ceremony to be held on Thursday at the Azad Maidan in south Mumbai, which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as nearly 2,000 VVIPs and 40,000 supporters. Several Union ministers, and 19 chief ministers and deputy CMs of various states are also expected to attend the ceremony.
BJP leader Prasad Lad has said the ceremony will be a "historic moment" for Maharashtra. "The event will be telecast live across the state wherever LED screens are available," he said.
It is also being hinted that the portfolio distribution among the three allies will witness disagreements. Earlier, Sena leaders had said that as per the ‘convention’ of alliance politics, their party should get the home portfolio if the CM post went to the BJP.
The BJP achieved remarkable success in the November 20 Maharashtra elections, securing 132 out of the 288 assembly seats in the state, marking its best performance in the state so far.
(With inputs from PTI)
