Overnight twist in Maharashtra’s political tale; Devendra Fadnavis takes oath as CM

Mumbai: The stage was set. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar and the Congress had agreed to lend support to Uddhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena as the chief minister of Maharashtra. In a dramatic move in the wee hours of Saturday, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis along with NCP’s Ajit Pawar headed to the Governor’s office. Ajit Pawar and other leaders from the party broke away to ensure Devendra Fadnavis takes oath as CM and Ajit Pawar as deputy CM.

The President's Rule was revoked minutes before BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis took oath as Maharashtra chief minister in the morning. President's rule was imposed in the state on November 12 after no parties could prove majority. Union home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla issued a notification stating that President Ram Nath Kovind has revoked President's Rule "in relation to the state of Maharashtra with effect from the 23rd day of November, 2019".

Congress has convened an emergency meeting at the party office in Mumbai. Veteran leaders of the party, Mallikarjun Kharge and KC Venugopal, will conduct the meeting. 

While Fadnavis took oath as Maharashtra CM for the second time, Ajit Pawar took oath as the deputy CM. Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administered the oath.

Fadnavis said that Ajit and he were always in touch and had discussed in detail about government formation. “People had given us a clear mandate, but Shiv Sena tried to align with other parties instead, and thus President’s rule was imposed. Maharashtra needed a stable government and not a khichdi government,” he added.

A number of senior BJP leaders congratulated Fadnavis, including Prime minister Modi.

Congratulations to @Dev_Fadnavis Ji and @AjitPawarSpeaks Ji on taking oath as the CM and Deputy CM of Maharashtra respectively. I am confident they will work diligently for the bright future of Maharashtra.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 23, 2019

महाराष्ट्राच्या मुख्यमंत्री पदी श्री देवेंद्र फडणवीस आणि उप मुख्यमंत्री पदी अजित दादा पवार यांनी शपथ घेतल्या बद्दल अभिनंदन. तुमच्या नेतृत्वात महाराष्ट्राचा विकास रथ वेगाने पुढे जाईल हा ठाम विश्वास आहे. @Dev_Fadnavis @AjitPawarSpeaks

— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) November 23, 2019

श्री @Dev_Fadnavis जी को महाराष्ट्र के मुख्यमंत्री एवं श्री @AjitPawarSpeaks जी को उपमुख्यमंत्री के रूप में शपथ लेने पर हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं।

मुझे विश्वास है कि यह सरकार जनकल्याण के प्रति समर्पित होकर प्रतिबद्धता के साथ कार्य करेगी तथा उन्नति और समृद्धि के नए आयाम स्थापित करेगी।

— Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) November 23, 2019

NCP leader Sharad Pawar took to Twitter to say, “Ajit Pawar’s decision to support the BJP to form Maharashtra Government is his personal decision and not that of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). We place on record that we do not support or endorse this decision of his (sic).”

Ajit Pawar's decision to support the BJP to form the Maharashtra Government is his personal decision and not that of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
We place on record that we do not support or endorse this decision of his.

— Sharad Pawar (@PawarSpeaks) November 23, 2019

The Congress said that they have been backstabbed, claiming what else can be expected from the NCP.