Maharashtra Politics HIGHLIGHTS: Ajit Pawar Arrives at Devendra Fadnavis' Residence For Late Night Meeting

Background

Mumbai: In a stunning political development, BJP's Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday took oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister for the second consecutive term while NCP's Ajit Pawar took oath as Deputy Chief Minister of the state. The oath was administered by Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhawan today. This comes as a big surprise when the deliberations between Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena seemingly reached the final stage on Friday. The two were sworn-in at a function in the Raj Bhavan held around 8 a.m. in the presence of a few BJP and NCP leaders, and other government officials.

Soon afterwards, Fadnavis said that the Governor would give them a letter instructing when to prove the new government's majority on the floor of the Assembly. He added that the cabinet would be expanded at a later date.

Earlier, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar had claimed that there was a consensus on Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray as chief minister of the alliance government.

Conveying his best wishes to Fadnavis for taking over as the CM for a second consecutive term, and to Pawar on his appointment as Dy.CM, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter and wrote,"Congratulations to @Dev_Fadnavis Ji and @AjitPawarSpeaks Ji on taking oath as the CM and Deputy CM of Maharashtra respectively. I am confident they will work diligently for the bright future of Maharashtra."

Congratulations to @Dev_Fadnavis Ji and @AjitPawarSpeaks Ji on taking oath as the CM and Deputy CM of Maharashtra respectively. I am confident they will work diligently for the bright future of Maharashtra.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 23, 2019

Devendra Fadnavis after taking oath as Maharashtra CM again said, "People had given us a clear mandate, but Shiv Sena tried to ally with other parties after results, as a result President's rule was imposed. Maharashtra needed a stable govt not a 'khichdi' govt."

Ajit Pawar who took the oath as Deputy CM, said, "From result day to this day no party was able to form Govt, Maharashtra was facing many problems including farmer issues, so we decided to form a stable Govt."

Watch | Devendra Fadnavis takes oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister again



The BJP, which emerged as the single largest party, could not stake claim to form a government as its ally Shiv Sena remained firm on rotating the Chief Minister's post and equal sharing of Cabinet berths.

Shiv Sena parted its ways with BJP to explore ways to form a government. It, however, failed to prove the support of the required number of MLAs in the time given by state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

The Governor had then invited NCP, the third-largest party, to prove its ability to form the government failing which President's Rule was imposed in the state.

The BJP won 105 seats in the 288-member assembly followed by Shiv Sena 56, NCP 54 and Congress 44.

(With inputs from ANI)

22:33 PM (IST)  •  24 Nov 2019

Mumbai: Bus carrying Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLAs reaches Hotel Hyatt from Hotel Renaissance, where the ML… https://t.co/GnAo7GjvT4

22:22 PM (IST)  •  24 Nov 2019

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has reached the residence of Devendra Fadnavis for a late-night meeting.

21:12 PM (IST)  •  24 Nov 2019

Union Minister Ramdas Athawale expressed confidence that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will prove his government's majority in the state Assembly on floor of the House.

19:46 PM (IST)  •  24 Nov 2019

As per ANI, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has moved its MLAs to Hotel Hyatt, due to security reasons, from Hotel Renaissance where they are currently lodged.

19:34 PM (IST)  •  24 Nov 2019

Senior congress leader Ahmed Patel arrives at JW Marriott Hotel, where Congress MLAs are currently lodged. Other party leaders Ashok Chavan, Balasaheb Thorat, Sushil Kumar Shinde, & Mallikarjun Kharge are already present at the hotel.