After being elected as the chief of BJP legislature party, Devendra Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde, and Ajit Pawar met Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan at Raj Bhawan on Wednesday. These leaders met the Governor to stake a claim to form government in the state. Devendra Fadnavis was unanimously elected as Maharashtra BJP legislature party’s leader on Wednesday, paving the way for his swearing-in as the chief minister for a third time.
After meeting the governor, Devendra Fadnavis said, "We have met the Governor and handed over the letter of support to stake claim to form the government in the state. The Governor has invited us for the oath ceremony tomorrow at 5.30 pm..."
Fadnavis further said that the alliance partners Shiv Sena and NCP have requested the Governor that he should be sworn in as Mahayuti CM and the Governor accepted all the requests and invited all for the oath ceremony tomorrow at 5.30 pm.
"The posts of CM and DCM are just technical posts. We all will work together for Maharashtra. Other ministers will be decided in upcoming meetings," he said.
Sources told PTI that Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde and NCP’s Ajit Pawar will be sworn in as deputy chief ministers at the ceremony, which will be held on Thursday at the sprawling Azad Maidan in south Mumbai in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
At the legislature party meeting held in Vidhan Bhawan on Wednesday, former Gujarat CM and BJP’s central observer Vijay Rupani announced that Fadnavis (54) has been unanimously elected the BJP legislature party leader.
Speaking at the meeting, BJP’s central observer and Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the “double engine government” in the state and the Centre will boost development.
Fadnavis thanked the BJP legislators for reposing trust in him, adding that the thumping victory of the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the November 20 assembly elections was due to the mantra of “Ek hai toh safe hai” given by PM Modi.
At the Vidhan Bhawan meeting, senior state BJP leader Chandrakant Patil proposed the name of Fadnavis as the legislature party leader.
Fadnavis' name was finalised for the top post at the state BJP's core committee meet held here ahead of the legislature party meeting.
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.
Together with its allies Shiv Sena and NCP, the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition has a commanding majority of 230 seats. On Tuesday, Fadnavis met caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at his official residence, 'Varsha,' in south Mumbai for the first time after their meeting in Delhi last week with Union minister Amit Shah.
BJP leader Prasad Lad said the swearing-in ceremony will be a grand affair with nearly 42,000 attendees. "PM Modi, nine to ten Union ministers, and 19 chief ministers and deputy chief ministers will attend the ceremony," he said.
