Eknath Shinde takes charge as chief minister of Maharashtra

Members of the Shinde family, as well as deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, were present on the occasion.

Exactly a week after he took oath as the twentieth chief minister of Maharashtra, Eknath Shinde on Thursday officially took charge at Mantralaya, the state government's administrative headquarters in Mumbai.

“Took charge as the chief minister of Maharashtra at chief minister's office in Mantralaya. Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis was also present on the occasion. Accepted his greetings wholeheartedly,” Shinde tweeted in Marathi.

Shinde said his family members also attended the ceremony. “My father Sambhaji Shinde, wife Lata, son Shrikant, daughter-in-law Vrushali and grandson Rudransh were also present,” the 64-year-old politician tweeted.

Also, in a possible statement of intent, a large portrait of Shiv Sena founder, the late Bal Thackeray, was in photos from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), tweeted by Shinde.

On June 20, he began a revolt against Sena supremo and then-chief minister, Uddhav Thackeray, and set in motion a chain of events that culminated with Thackeray stepping down from the top post, on June 29. A day later, Eknath Shinde took over as CM, with BJP's Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy. The development, however, came as a surprise, as it was widely expected that Fadnavis, a former CM, would succeed Thackeray, with the rebel Sena leader taking over the deputy's chair.

Meanwhile, according to a report in NDTV, the new government is likely to have 45 ministers, of which 25 will be from the BJP, and 13 from the Shinde-led Sena faction. The remaining ministers will be independent MLAs.