Mumbai: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis will take oath as the 27th Chief Minister of Maharashtra at a grand function in Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on Friday evening. He will be the first from the BJP to head the state government.
Fadnavis, 44, and a four-term MLA from Nagpur, will be administered the oath of office by Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP veteran Lal Krishna Advani, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and BJP chief Amit Shah.
A small Cabinet of around ten ministers is expected to be sworn-in on the occasion, which will be attended by several central ministers, including Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, the chief ministers of BJP-ruled states, corporate leaders, Bollywood stars and other celebrities.
The Shiv Sena has decided to boycott today’s ceremony. It may be recalled that the BJP and Shiv Sena snapped their 25-year alliance in September over a seat sharing disagreement.
After the swearing-in ceremony, Fadnavis and his ministers are expected to garland statues of Chhatrapati Shivaji and Jijabai at the Mantralaya of state secretariat.
Before the swearing-in ceremony, musician Ashok Hande will perform for an hour.
Over 2,500 security personnel have reportedly been deployed in and around Wankhede Stadium. Over 1,000 traffic policemen have been deployed to ensure the smooth movement of VIP and VVIP vehicles around the stadium and along the roads leading to the venue from domestic airport.
The BJP had emerged as the single largest party in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly with 122 seats, but one of its MLAs Govind Rathod died. The Shiv Sena finished second with 63 seats. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which emerged victorious in 41 seats, has offered the BJP ‘external support’ to form the government in the state.
