Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 4: Devendra Fadnavis, leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is set to assume office as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for a third term.
On Wednesday, Fadnavis, along with Caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and former Deputy Chief Ministers Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, will meet Governor CP Radhakrishnan to formally stake their claim to form the next state government. The swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for 5:30 pm on December 5 at Azad Maidan in Mumbai, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also be present.
The official invitation to the ceremony, released by Fadnavis’ office, confirms his role as the Chief Minister.
Earlier, the BJP unanimously elected Fadnavis as the leader of the Maharashtra BJP Legislative Party. During his address, Fadnavis called the Assembly elections “historic,” echoing Prime Minister Modi’s campaign slogans, “Ek Hain to Safe Hain” and “Modi Hai to Mumkin Hai.”
Fadnavis expressed his gratitude to the legislative party for unanimously electing him and thanked central observers Vijay Rupani and Nirmala Sitharaman. “These were historic elections that have proven that ‘Ek hain to safe hain’ and ‘Modi hai to mumkin hai.’ Maharashtra has given us a resounding mandate, and I bow down to the voters of the state. I also thank CM Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, and our other allies,” Fadnavis said.
The BJP Legislative Party meeting, held at Maharashtra Vidhan Bhavan, nominated Fadnavis as its leader, with Chandrakant Patil and Sudhir Mungantiwar making the formal announcement. The new government is set to be sworn in following the Mahayuti alliance’s decisive victory in the state assembly elections.
On December 4, leaders from the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP’s Mahayuti alliance visited Azad Maidan to oversee the preparations for the event. The swearing-in ceremony will mark the beginning of the new government after the Mahayuti alliance secured a resounding victory in the state assembly polls, winning a total of 235 seats. The BJP emerged as the largest party, securing 132 seats, with Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party securing 57 and 41 seats, respectively.
Fadnavis, who contested the elections from the Nagpur South West constituency, won convincingly by defeating Congress’ Prafulla Vinodrao Gudadhe. The Nagpur South West seat has been Fadnavis’ stronghold since 1999.