Devendra Fadnavis will be sworn in as Maharashtra chief minister on Thursday, December 5, in Mumbai Azad Maian in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Maharashtra’s caretaker chief minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday congratulated chief minister-designate Devendra Fadnavis on being elected as the Bharatiya Janata Party Legislative Party leader. However, the Shiv Sena boss did not reveal whether he would join the new cabinet, keeping the suspense alive.
Devendra Fadnavis will be sworn in as Maharashtra chief minister on Thursday, December 5, in Mumbai Azad Maian in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Two deputy chief ministers, including NCP leader Ajit Pawar, will also be sworn in at the ceremony. However, there is no clarity yet on whether outgoing CM Eknath Shinde will be a part of the new Mahayuti ministry to be led by Devendra Fadnavis.
After meeting Governor CP Radhakrishnan, Devendra Fadnavis said, “The swearing-in ceremony of the new government will be held tomorrow at 5:30pm in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I met Eknath Shinde and requested him to join us in this government, as it is the wish of Mahayuti workers…We will fulfil the promises made to the people of Maharashtra.” Eknath Shinde expressed his satisfaction with the two-and-a-half years of the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra.
“I am very happy with the completion of two-and-a-half years. The work done by our government–the Mahayuti government–by 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 proud to have taken such significant decisions,” said Eknath Shinde. When asked if he would take oath on Thursday, Eknath Shinde asked journalists to wait till the evening. Ajit Pawar interjected and said, “We will know about Shinde by evening, but I will take it (oath), I will not wait.”
Ekanth Shinde smiled at the response. “Dada (Ajit Pawar) has experience of taking oath both in the morning and evening,” he said, eliciting laughter. His allusion to an early morning oath-taking in 2019 by Devendra Fadnavis and Pawar as the CM and deputy CM of a government that was to collapse five days later.
