Mumbai: “Main samandar hoon, lautkar wapas aaunga” (I am the sea and will return), Devendra Fadnavis had pledged in the Maharashtra Assembly five years ago in December 2019. True to his word, the BJP leader has made a massive comeback and is now set to take the oath as Chief Minister of the Mahayuti 2.0 government for the third time, at 5:30 PM on December 5 (Thursday).
“We have met the Governor and handed over the letter of support to stake claim to form the government in the state. Eknath Shinde in his capacity as President of Shiv Sena and head of Shiv Sena’s Legislature Party, has given a letter recommending my name for the post of Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Along with this, Nationalist Congress Party President and Legislature Party leader Ajit Dada Pawar have also given a similar letter… Independent MLAs who are with us, all have submitted a letter to the Governor and he has accepted all the requests and invited us for the oath ceremony tomorrow at 5.30 pm”, said Maharashtra CM-designate Devendra Fadnavis.
Along with Fadnavis, NCP leader Ajit Pawar will also take the oath as one of the deputy Chief Ministers tomorrow, however t it remains uncertain whether caretaker CM Eknath Shinde will assume the role. During a joint press conference, Fadnavis revealed that he had asked Eknath Shinde to ‘accept the position’ (of deputy CM).
“I am very happy with the completion of two and a half years. The work done by our government, the Mahayuti government, the three of us and our team in the last 2.5 years is remarkable. It will be written in golden letters in history. We are happy that we took such big decisions…”, said Shinde while addressing a joint presser.
When asked if he and NCP chief Ajit Pawar will also take oath as Deputy CMs tomorrow, Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde says, “Wait till evening…” Replying to Shinde, NCP chief Ajit Pawar said “Sham tak unka samaj aayega, I will take it (oath), I will not wait.”
Replying to NCP chief Pawar, Shinde said, “Dada (Ajit Pawar) has experience of taking (oath) both in the morning and evening.”
Meanwhile, Fadnavis said that the swearing-in ceremony of the new government will be held tomorrow at 5.30 pm in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi … We will decide by evening who all will take oath tomorrow. “Yesterday I met Eknath Shinde and requested him that it is the wish of Mahayuti workers that he should be with us in this government. I have full faith that he will be with us… We will fulfill the promises made to the people of Maharashtra…”, he told reporters.
Ajit Pawar, on the other hand exuded confidence and said that the Mahayuti 2.0 will give its best to run the government in the state. “Activities related to the party will be handled by (BJP chief) Chandrashekhar Bawankule and NCP’s Sunil Tatkare…”, he added.
Mahayuti’s Maha Win in Maharashtra
Maharashtra was coloured a vivid saffron with voters giving the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance a landslide win over a tottering MVA. Together with its partners Shiv Sena and NCP, the ruling Mahayuti alliance won 219 of the 288 seats in the state, leaving the MVA (Congress-Shiv Sena(UBT)-NCP(SP) with just 51 seats.
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