Devendra Fadnavis to be sworn in as Maharashtra CM along with two Deputy CMs

BJP legislature party leader Devendra Fadnavis will be swornin as the new chief minister of Maharashtra on Thursday evening at a grand ceremony in Mumbai to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several other dignitariesFadnavis who would be occupying the CMs post for the third time along with two deputy chief ministers will take the oath of office BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar told reporters adding that other members of the cabinet will take oath later reported PTINationalist Congress Party chief Ajit Pawar and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde are expected to take oath as deputy chief ministers sources told PTIWhile Pawar has said he would take oath on Thursday there was no confirmation yet from the Shinde camp that he would accept the deputy CM post reported PTIAsked when other ministers would take the oath of office Mungantiwar told reporters It is most likely that the council of ministers will be sworn in before the winter session of the assembly starts so as to avoid administrative disruption reported PTIThe swearingin ceremony will be held at the Azad Maidan ground in south Mumbai Governor C P Radhakrishnan will administer the oath of office to Fadnavis and his deputies reported PTIThe formation of the new government comes after two weeks of intense negotiations following the November 20 state assembly polls and results on November 23Fadnavis 54 who represents Nagpur South West constituency emerged as the frontrunner for the top post as he was the face of the BJPs campaign and led the party to victory in 132 seats in the 288member HouseTogether with allies Shiv Sena and NCP the BJPled Mahayuti coalition has a commanding majority of 230 seatsAhead of the swearingin ceremony Fadnavis visited the famous Siddhivinayak temple in the morning and performed a pujaOn Wednesday Fadnavis with Shinde and Ajit Pawar met Governor Radhakrishnan to formally stake claim to form a government presenting letters of support from the coalition partnersBefore that Fadnavis was elected as leader of the BJP legislature party at a meeting on Wednesday morningThe swearingin ceremony will have 42000 attendees BJP leader Prasad Lad had said earlier Besides PM Modi several Union ministers and chief ministers and deputy CMs of various states will attend the event he said reported PTISpecial arrangements have been made to accommodate 40000 BJP supporters and a separate seating arrangement made for 2000 VVIPs including leaders from various religions he said reported PTIMore than 4000 police personnel have been deployed for security officials saidFadnavis has been chief minister twice He headed the BJPShiv Sena government for five years from 2014 to 2019 Amid a deadlock after the 2019 elections as the Uddhav Thackerayled Shiv Sena severed its ties with the BJP over the CM post Fadnavis was sworn in as chief minister with Ajit Pawar as his deputyBut this government lasted only 72 hours as Pawar could not get the backing of enough NCP MLAsWhen the Mahayuti government came to power under Shindes leadership following a split in the Shiv Sena Fadnavis became a deputy CM Ajit Pawar too joined this government as a second deputy CM in 2023 after he split the NCP led by Sharad PawarAjit Pawar 65 would be taking oath as deputy CM for the sixth timeWith inputs from PTI