In First Cabinet Meet, CM Uddhav Allots Rs 20 Cr For Revival of Raigad; Decision On Farmers Soon

Soon after taking oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra in a colourful ceremony at the picturesque Shivaji Park in Mumbai on November 28, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray chaired his first cabinet meeting at Sahyadri Guest House.

Newly elected Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray along with ministers addresses media at Sahyadri Guest House after the first cabinet meeting. (Image: PTI)

Mumbai: Soon after taking oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra in a colourful ceremony at the picturesque Shivaji Park in Mumbai on November 28, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray chaired his first cabinet meeting at Sahyadri Guest House. After holding hours long discussion with his cabinet ministers, newly appointed CM held a press conference to brief about his government's first cabinet meet. Addressing his first press conference as the chief minister, Uddhav Thackeray says that his will be a government for the common people. "I want to assure the people of the state that we will give a good government. I want to help the farmers in a manner which will make them happy," Thackeray said. While briefing reporters about the decisions taken by the state government, Thackeray said, "first and the foremost cabinet has sanctioned an amount of Rs 20 crore for conservation of Maratha king Shivaji's erstwhile capital, Fort Raigad." Speaking about the issues pertaining to Maharashtra farmers' distress, Thackeray emphasised that he will take major decisions to give relief to the farmers of Maharashtra within two days. I have asked officials to provide me with complete information on state and centre schemes for farmers, in the next two days. Once I get all details, I will take a decision accordingly," he said. However, reacting unusual, the newly appointed Maharashtra CM fumed during the press conference when a ABP News reporter asked him if the Sena has become secular? Coming down heavily on the reporter, Uddhav reverted by saying: "Secular ka matlab kya hai? Samvidhan mein jo kuch hai woh hai." (What do you mean by secular? Whatever it is written the in constitution, it is there.) Watch | Uddhav Thackeray's reaction on ABP News' question here: Shiv Sena ministers Eknath Shinde and Subhash Desai, Congress ministers Balasaheb Thorat and Nitin Raut and NCP ministers Chhagan Bhujbal and Jayant Patil, who took oath as cabinet minister earlier in the day attended the cabinet meeting. Thackeray heads the 'Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi' of three parties. Other leaders who arrived at Sahyadri Guest House included Ajit Pawar and Dilip Walase Patil of the NCP; Shiv Sena MPs Rajan Vichare, Anil Desai and Shrikant Shinde, and Sena Member of Legislative Council Anil Parab. The cabinet, in the first meeting, was supposed to decide on calling a special session of the Assembly to elect full-time Speaker who will conduct floor test, a senior IAS officer told news agency PTI. Governor B K Koshyari has asked Thackeray to prove majority by December 3. After a month long political slugfest, Maharashtra finally got its chief minister earlier in the day with Sena boss Uddhav taking over the reins of the state from Devendra Fadnavis-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. With support from Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Uddhav was sworn in as Chief Minister in a colourful ceremony watched by hundreds of supporters from the three parties comprising the coalition at the picturesque Shivaji Park in Mumbai. Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administered the oath of office and secrecy at 6.40 pm to Thackeray - who sported a striking saffron coloured kurta-pyjama, the Sena's colour. In an unusual gesture of humility, soon after completing the formalities, Thackeray, the first from the politically prominent Thackeray clan to hold the post, stepped to the front of the stage and knelt down, touching his hands and head on the floor to express his gratitude to the people of Maharashtra for the honour bestowed on him. Thackeray is the third from the Sena to be Chief Minister after Manohar Joshi and Narayan Rane in the late 1990s. Shiv Sena's Eknath Shinde and Subhash Desai, NCP's Jayant Patil and Chhagan Bhujbal, and Congress' Balasaheb Thorat and Nitin Raut also took oath as cabinet ministers in Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government.