Bal Thackeray, PM Modi, Amit Shah feature in Eknath Shinde's ‘thank you’ list at oath

The Shiv Sena Chief was the CM of the state since breaking away from Udhav Thackeray and joining hands with the BJP.

Shiv Sena Chief Eknath Shinde took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra on Thursday at Mumbai's Azad Maidan, ending weeks of speculation on his role in the Mahayuti government.

Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde takes oath as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister during the swearing-in ceremony, in Mumbai,(PTI)

Amid the custom of oath taking, what stood out in his case was that he made a special mention of thanks to Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray before taking the oath of office.

Shinde also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and the voters of Maharashtra before taking oath as Deputy CM.

The Shiv Sena Chief was the CM of the state since breaking away from Udhav Thackeray and joining hands with the BJP. While speculations before the elections were that he will continue on the post if the Mahayuti Alliance came back to power, the BJP decided to go ahead with Devendra Fadnavis.

Since November 23, the day the results of the Maharashtra Assembly polls were declared, there was suspense over who would get the top post. The BJP legislative party elected Fadnavis as their leader and he staked claim to form the government in front of Governor CP Radhakrishnan.

While Shinde was present with Fadnavis at the Raj Bhawan, along with NCP’s Ajit Pawar, it wasn't clear if the Sena chief would take up the deputy CM post.

Shiv Sena leaders put pressure on Eknath Shinde

In the morning of Thursday, Sena leaders declared that if Eknath Shinde did not become the Deputy CM, they wouldn't take ministerial berths in the government either. By the evening, just before the ceremony, it became clear that he was taking oath along with Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar.

Many big names were present for the occasion including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers like Amit Shah, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Piyush Goyal. Stars like Salman Khan, Sachin Tendulkar and Shah Rukh Khan were also present to witness the oath taking of the new Maharashtra government.