Shinde, Pawar take oath as Deputy Chief Minister; Cabinet expansion next week

MUMBAI (TIP): BJP legislature party leader Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday, December 5, took the oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, while leaders of the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, were sworn in as Deputy Chief Ministers at a grand ceremony in south Mumbai’s Azad Maidan.

Fadnavis included the names of his mother and father while taking the oath. “I Devendra Sarita Gangadharrao Fadnavis do swear in the name of God…,” said the 54-year-old to thunderous applause as Governor CP Radhakrishnan administered him the oath of office and secrecy in the presence of PM Narendra Modi, senior NDA leaders and chief ministers of BJP-ruled states.

A sulking Eknath Shinde was reportedly reluctant to take the deputy CM’s post. Shiv Sena’s Uday Samant said Shinde relented after Fadnavis requested him to join his team
Another Sena leader said Shinde agreed to accept the post after all party MLAs met him & persuaded him to do so.
This is the third time as CM for Fadnavis and the sixth time as Deputy CM for Pawar. After Fadnavis, Shinde of the Shiv Sena and NCP’s Pawar also included the names of their mothers while taking the oath. While Shinde took the oath as Eknath Gangubai Sambaji Shinde, Pawar called himself Ajit Ashatai Anantrao Pawar.

The politically significant move by the CM and his deputies signals solidarity with women, who, NDA leaders say, voted generously in their favor, helping the Mahayuti alliance return to power with a massive four-fifths majority (230 seats in a 288-member House). Fadnavis, Shinde and Pawar have repeatedly acknowledged the contribution of the Ladli Bahin scheme to their massive win in the Assembly elections in which the Congress, Shiv Sena-UBT and NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar were literally routed.

“The inclusion of the names of mothers along with fathers in the middle names of the CM and his deputies is a strong message of equality and solidarity with women. That is the commitment of the BJP, especially of PM Modi,” said a senior BJP leader.

Soon after the swearing-in, the CM and his deputies drove to the Maharashtra Secretariat for the first Cabinet meeting, which recommended to the Governor to call the Assembly session for MLAs’ oath from December 7 to 9. The election of the Speaker will be held on the last day of the session. The Cabinet expansion will take place next week, sources said.

Before chairing the Cabinet meeting, Fadnavis signed a file granting Rs 5 lakh aid to a patient awaiting bone marrow transplant.

Meanwhile, the ruling Mahayuti’s rivals, NCP’s Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena-UBT’s Uddhav Thackeray, although invited, skipped the ceremony.

Present at the event were senior NDA leaders, including Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, Nitin Gadkari, N Chandrababu Naidu, Nitish Kumar, JP Nadda, Bhupender Yadav, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Chirag Paswan.

The CM’s of BJP-ruled states who attended the event included Yogi Adityanath, Pramod Sawant, Pushkar Singh Dhami, Nayab Singh Saini and Mohan Majhi. Among celebrity guests were Mukesh Ambani, Sachin Tendulkar, Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan.
(With inputs from agencies)