How Fadnavis’s midnight dream was fulfilled

Negotiations between the Bharatiya Janata Party and dissident Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar sealed the pact late on Friday.

Preparations for the swearing-in of Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis began on Saturday early morning, said officials with knowledge of developments.

CM Devendra Fadnavis along with party leaders at BJP office at Nariman point in Mumbai, India, on Saturday, November 23, 2019. (Photo by Kunal Patil/Hindustan Times) (Kunal Patil/HT Photo)

Negotiations between the Bharatiya Janata Party and dissident Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar sealed the pact late on Friday. The parties then rushed to the Raj Bhavan and presented letters of support to Governor BS Koshyari.

At around 2.30am, more officers such as the undersecretary and the staff involved in drafting orders and completing paper work were summoned to the office Santosh Kumar, secretary of the governor, as the Union home ministry was contacted to start the process of revoking President’s Rule.

The secretary was told to maintain confidentiality and inform relevant officials only two hours before the swearing in ceremony.

“Chief secretary Ajoy Mehta and an official from the protocol department of the government

were contacted at around 5 am and were asked to be reach the Raj Bhavan,” said a senior official from Mantralaya on condition of anonymity.

Officials from the protocol department prepare the documents required to put the details of the ministers sworn in on record.

Ajit Pawar reached the Raj Bhavan with his wife Sunetra and son Parth at around 7am. Fadnavis, who was accompanied by his wife Amruta, and mother, Sarita, joined him in a few minutes.

By 7.30am, Fadnavis had been sworn in for a second term as chief minister and Ajit Pawar as his deputy. A tweet by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 8.16am congratulating the duo broke the story to the world. Until then, many leaders in the BJP were also not aware that they were back in power in the western state.

“A majority of the BJP’s state leaders got informed only in the morning, minutes before or after the oath taking ceremony,” said a senior BJP leader.