Today, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis will take the oath of office as Maharashtra’s 18th chief minister, bringing an end to a two-week-long deadlock over who would hold the top position following the Mahayuti alliance’s unexpected victory in the state’s November 20 Assembly elections.
Top BJP officials, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, will attend the oath-taking event, which is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. in Mumbai’s Azad Maidan.
The 54-year-old will serve as chief minister for the third time. At the age of 44, he became the state’s youngest chief minister during his initial tenure in the position, which lasted from October 2014 until November 2019.
However, his second term, which ran from November 23 to November 28, 2019, was brief since the Shiv Sena broke apart from its coalition with the BJP.
Two Deputy Chief Ministers, including Ajit Pawar, the leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), will also take the oath of office today in addition to Fadnavis.
Eknath Shinde, the head of the Shiv Sena, has decided to serve as Deputy Chief Minister and is scheduled to take oath today. Shinde’s initial hesitancy to relinquish his position as Chief Minister prolonged the impasse.
After the BJP became the single largest party in the state elections with 132 seats, its highest-ever total, while the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde and the NCP led by Ajit Pawar received 57 and 41 seats, respectively, Fadnavis emerged as the front-runner for the coveted position.
Together, the Mahayuti secured 230 of the 288 Assembly seats. Devendra Fadnavis was chosen as the Chief Minister at a pivotal BJP legislative party meeting in Mumbai on Wednesday. Senior BJP leaders Sudhir Mungantiwar and Pankaja Munde overwhelmingly seconded the bid after former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani put forward his name.
He expressed his optimism that the Shiv Sena chairman “will be with us” at a press conference that Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde, and Ajit Pawar held following the meeting. Shinde became evasive when asked if he will take oath as Deputy Chief Minister while seated between Pawar and Fadnavis. He just replied, “Wait till evening.” Pawar immediately cut in and said, “Don’t know about him, but I am taking oath tomorrow.”
A possible schism within the Mahayuti alliance had been stoked by Shinde’s decision to remain in Thane, citing health concerns. He did, however, return to Mumbai on Tuesday, suggesting that the issues raised by his position in the new administration may be resolved.
Nearly 42,000 people are expected to attend the swearing-in ceremony, according to BJP leader Prasad Lad. “PM Modi, nine to ten Union Ministers, and 19 Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers will attend the ceremony,” he stated, adding that 40,000 BJP supporters would be accommodated in special seating arrangements, with 2,000 VVIPs receiving separate seating.
In the meantime, following the oath-taking ceremony, Mumbai has increased security. The Mumbai Police have devised a detailed deployment plan that includes over 4,000 security personnel, around 700 officers, 15 DCPs, and five additional commissioners, Joint Police Commissioner Satya Narayan Choudhary told reporters.
Maintaining law and order has also involved the deployment of teams from the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF), the Quick Response Team (QRT), the Riots Control Team, Delta, combat teams, and the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad.
Additionally, there are traffic detours in place, and 8,000CCTV will be watched. Police have asked people to take public transport because Azad Maidan does not have parking.
Meanwhile, the area surrounding Azad Maidan is covered in posters of Pawar, Shinde, and Fadnavis, the incoming chief minister. There were also posters of JP Nadda, the national president of the BJP, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In addition to becoming the Chief Minister, Fadnavis has become Maharashtra’s “most-followed” politician on social media. He has 91 lakh Facebook fans, 20 lakh Instagram fans, 11 lakh YouTube subscribers, 55,000 WhatsApp followers, and 59 lakh X fans.
His two-and-a-half-year term as Deputy Chief Minister saw a notable comeback, and he was widely credited with helping the BJP pull off its largest-ever victory in Maharashtra during this year’s state elections.
