Flanked by Ajit Pawar, Eknath Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis stakes claim to form Maharashtra government

Devendra Fadnavis will take oath as the Maharashtra chief minister tomorrow.

Updated on: Dec 4, 2024, 22:22:22 IST

By HT News Desk

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Hours after being named as the BJP's Maharashtra chief minister pick, Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday staked a claim to form a government in the state. He will take oath as the Maharashtra CM in Mumbai tomorrow.

Mumbai: BJP leaders Devendra Fadnavis and Chandrashekhar Bawankule and others after the BJP legislature meeting. (PTI)

Flanked by Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde and NCP leader Ajit Pawar, Fadnavis met Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan in the Raj Bhavan.

"We have met the Governor and handed over the letter of support to stake claim to form the government in the state. The Governor has invited us to the oath ceremony tomorrow at 5.30 pm," Fadnavis said.

Union minister Vijay Rupani today said two deputy chief ministers will take oath along with the Maharashtra chief minister at Mumbai's Azad Maidan tomorrow.

The union minister, however, didn't reveal the names of the deputy chief ministers. NCP's Ajit Pawar is likely to be one of the two deputy CMs.

Also read: Devendra Fadnavis invites Eknath Shinde to join Maharashtra cabinet

Rupani, the BJP's central observer for Maharashtra, said the names of other cabinet ministers will be finalised after discussions with the Mahayuti partners.

He further said there are no differences within the coalition. "There are no differences in Mahayuti, all are happy and everything is well," said Rupani.

The Bharatiya Janata Party today unanimously chose Devendra Fadnavis as the leader of the Maharashtra BJP Legislative Party, paving the way for his coronation as the Maharashtra CM.

The decision was announced ten days after the landslide Mahayuti victory in the Maharashtra elections. Eknath Shinde had also claimed the post; however, he later relented saying he would back the BJP's CM pick.

After his election, Fadnavis termed the assembly poll victory "historic" and reiterated the "Ek Hain to Safe Hain" rhetoric of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"I thank everyone from the legislative party that you all chose me unanimously. And I thank our central observers Rupani ji and Nirmala ji also. As you all know these were historic elections and these elections have proved that 'Ek Hain to Safe Hain' and 'Modi Hai to Mumkin hai'. We have restarted our series of victories with Haryana and now Maharashtra has given such a thumping mandate. I completely bow down before the Maharashtra voters. I also thank CM Eknath Shinde ji and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar along with Athawale ji and our other allies," he said.

The BJP-led Mahayuti won 235 seats. The results marked a significant milestone for the BJP, which emerged as the single-largest party with 132 seats. The Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party won 57 and 41 seats respectively.

With inputs from ANI

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