Uddhav Thackeray/File
People from all walks of life have been invited for Chief Minister-designate Uddhav Thackeray's swearing-in ceremony on Thursday. As many as 500 farmers have been invited at the Shivaji Park event. The invites were extended to 20 farmers in every district of Maharashtra.
"We shall be having at least 500-700 farmers and widows specially being invited for the grand function tomorrow. There will be at least 20 farmers from each district in Maharashtra," said senior Congress leader and former Leader of Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar.
Chief Ministers of all opposition-ruled states have also been invited besides central leaders of all political parties, and state party leaders, he added.
Shiv Sena Legislative Party leader Eknath Shinde said that apart from political dignitaries from all parties in Maharashtra and rest of India, there will be celebrities from the film and glamour world, industrialists, sports personalities and prominent achievers in different fields present.
Some of the prominent personalities likely to make their presence felt include several top Congress leaders, some parties of the ruling National Democratic Alliance, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena President Raj Thackeray, Chief Ministers of various states like West Bengal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Bihar, etc.
Official sources reveal that top dignitaries like Chief Justice and judges of Bombay High Court, top police, civil and defence officials, diplomatic corps and other high-ranking government officials would also attend the swearing-in ceremony.
This is for the first time in the state that a second swearing-in ceremony of a Chief Minister -- of a different alliance government -- within a gap of five days, will be held.
Thackeray will be sworn in as chief minister of Maharashtra at the Shivaji Park in Dadar in central Mumbai on Thursday evening.
A lot of political drama played out in Maharashtra in the last one month after the Assembly poll results were declared on October 24.
First the President's rule was imposed in the state on November 12 after none of the parties was able to form government.
The Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress had held a series of parleys to forge an alliance in the state and prepare the common minimum programme.
But they were stunned after BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the Chief Minister along with Sharad Pawar's nephew Ajit Pawar as his deputy on Saturday.
The Congress-Shiv Sena-NCP were left surprised by Ajit Pawar's move as the three parties were in final rounds of finalising their alliance in the state. They then approached the Supreme Court against Governor B.S. Koshyari inviting Fadnavis to form government.
However, in a dramatic turn of events, Ajit Pawar succumbed to the family and party pressure and resigned from his post on Tuesday afternoon, paving the way for Fadnavis to resign too, a day before the crucial floor test in Assembly as directed by the Supreme Court.
In the October 21 assembly polls, the BJP bagged 105 seats while its pre-poll ally Shiv Sena won 56 seats. However, the 30-year-old alliance of the two parties fell apart after Uddhav Thackarey demanded a rotational chief ministership arrangement.
The Congress and the NCP had won 44 and 54 seats respectively.
(With IANS inputs)
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