Devendra Fadnavis will take oath as the next chief minister of Maharashtra on Thursday alongside two deputies.
After the 54-year-old was elected leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) legislative party unit and staked claim to power, ending nearly two weeks of suspense over government formation.
Fadnavis’s swearing-in ceremony at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan at 5.30pm on Thursday will complete a remarkable arc for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) loyalist who first served as chief minister for five years between 2014 and 2019, became the CM for five days in 2019, and then led the BJP to its best-ever performance in the 2024 assembly elections.
Outgoing chief minister Eknath Shinde and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) head Ajit Pawar are both expected to take oath alongside Fadnavis at the ceremony, to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“I have personally requested Shinde saheb to be part of the new government. The post of chief minister or deputy chief minister are just technical things. All three of us will work together for the state,” Fadnavis said, with Shinde and Pawar seated next to him.
When asked if he will take oath on Thursday, Shinde asked everyone to wait till the evening. Pawar interjected and said, “We will know about Shinde by evening, but I will take it (oath), I will not wait.”
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 Fadnavis and Pawar as the CM and deputy CM of a government that was to collapse five days later.
Fadnavis, along with Shinde and Ajit Pawar, called on governor CP Radhakrishnan at Raj Bhavan, where the Mahayuti staked claim to form the government with the support of 236 legislators.
The developments appeared to end the stalemate that had stalled government formation after the Mahayuti trounced the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which won just 50 seats, in the November 20 assembly elections.
But Shinde – who initially said he won’t be a hurdle in government formation but went back to his native village in Satara after a late-night meeting with Shah, Fadnavis and Pawar last week – kept up the suspense. Throughout last week, the Sena said Shinde’s health concerns prevented him from attending meetings even as speculation mounted that he was sulking over not getting the top post.
On Wednesday, Shinde and Fadnavis were locked in a meeting at the chief minister’s residence, Varsha, for over 30minutes but no breakthrough was announced. People aware of the discussions said that although Shinde was expected to take oath, the stalemate deepened over sticking points such as the Sena’s demand for the home department and the assembly Speaker’s position.
But Shinde publicly backed Fadnavis. “I am glad that two-and-a-half years ago, Fadnavis ji extended his support for me becoming chief minister at the same place we are sitting now. And now, I am supporting him for the top post,” he said.
Earlier in the day, the BJP held a meeting with its newly elected 132 lawmakers and senior party leaders, where former state BJP presidents Chandrakhant Patil and Sudhir Mungantiwar proposed Fadnavis’s name as the party leader. A slew of other leaders, including Pankaja Munde, Sanjay Kute, Sanjay Savkare, and Meghana Bordikar, seconded the proposal.
The meeting, held in the central hall of the state legislature, was conducted by the BJP’s two central observers, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani. Rupani enquired whether there were any more proposals for the chief minister’s post. In the absence of any other proposal, he unanimously announced Fadnavis’s name.
In her speech after the announcement of Fadnavis’s name, Sitharaman said that the “unexpected and unprecedented” mandates in the Maharashtra and Haryana assembly polls were a message to the country, as they came in the backdrop of the Lok Sabha election results, where the BJP failed to win an outright majority and did poorly in both provinces.
“It is a mandate for Viksit Bharat (Developed India) and for Ek Hain Toh Safe Hain,” she said, referring to the phrase coined by Modi while campaigning for the Maharashtra elections, calling for Hindus to be united.
Sitharaman added that a “double-engine government” in Maharashtra under Modi and Fadnavis will fulfil all the promises listed in the Mahayuti’s manifesto.
Fadnavis said that the thumping mandate delivered by the people of Maharashtra in favour of the Mahayuti was a mandate for “Ek Hain Toh Safe Hain” (if we stay united, we are safe) and “Modi Hai Toh Mumkin Hai” (Modi makes it possible).
“The mandate has also posed a challenge of the huge responsibilities and expectations of the people of Maharashtra. Our priority would be to complete assurances given by us to various sections of the society, including farmers and women, and keep the state in the top position,” he said.
Apart from the Sena and NCP, the Vinay Kore-led Jan Surajya Shakti, the Ravi Rana-led Yuva Janashakti, the Mahadev Jankar-led Rashtriya Samaj Paksha and two independents extended their support to the government.
The swearing-in ceremony will be held in the presence of Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, chief ministers of various NDA-led state governments, former Maharashtra chief ministers, foreign diplomats, actors from the Hindi and Marathi film industries, religious leaders of various sects, farmers, and beneficiaries of the Ladki Bahin welfare scheme that was seen as a major contributor to the BJP’s landslide victory.
BJP leader Prasad Lad said the swearing-in ceremony will be attended by nearly 42,000 people. “PM Modi, nine to ten Union ministers, and 19 chief ministers and deputy chief ministers will attend the ceremony,” he said.
Special arrangements have been made to accommodate 40,000 BJP supporters and a separate seating arrangement erected for 2,000 VVIPs, including leaders from various religions, he said. More than 4,000 police personnel have been deployed for security during the swearing-in ceremony, an official said.