Maharashtra CM-designate Devendra Fadnavis offered prayers at Shree Siddhivinayak Temple on Thursday ahead of his swearing-in ceremony in the evening. The Bharatiya Janata Party legislature party leader will be sworn-in as the new chief minister of Maharashtra at a ceremony to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This is for the third time that Fadnavis, an MLA from Nagpur, will be sworn-in as the Maharashtra CM.
Fadnavis also visited the Shree Mumbadevi Temple in Mumbai on Thursday. The grand swearing-in ceremony will be held at the Azad Maidan in south Mumbai, where elaborate security arrangements have been made for the event. NCP head Ajit Pawar and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde are also expected to take oath as deputy chief ministers, sources said.
BJP leader Prasad Lad earlier said that around 42,000 attendees including Union Ministers and chief ministers of different states will be present at the swearing-in ceremony. Special arrangements have been made to accommodate 40,000 BJP supporters and a separate seating arrangement made for 2,000 VVIPs, including leaders from various religions, he said.
Maharashtra’s government formation under Fadnavis comes after two intense weeks of political negotiations over the November 20 state assembly polls, the results of which were declared on November 23. Fadnavis had emerged as the frontrunner for the coveted post following the BJP's strong showing in the elections as it secured 132 seats in the 288-member House.
Together with its allies Shiv Sena and NCP, the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition has a commanding majority of 230 sea
On Wednesday, Fadnavis, joined by Shinde and Pawar, met with state Governor CP Radhakrishnan to formally stake claim to form the government, presenting letters of support from the coalition partners. After this meeting the governor extended an invitation for Fadnavis to lead the new government.
More than 4,000 police personnel have been deployed for security during the swearing-in ceremony, an official said.
(With inputs from PTI)
