Mumbai: At the swearing-in ceremony of Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday, a special contingent of farmers will be in attendance.
According to Shiv Sena MP Vinayak Raut, “Four hundred farmers from several districts, as well as the families of farmers who committed suicide, will be attending the ceremony."
Uddhav has also made special arrangements for Sangli farmer Sanjay Sawant. During Uddhav's campaign in Sangli, Sawant had said he was confident Maharashtra would get a Sena CM this year and had told Uddhav he wanted to be present during the oath ceremony. Sawant's wish has come true.
Sawant and his wife Rupali fasted for five consecutive days and walked 85km daily to the Vitthal temple, to pray for Uddhav to become the CM. When Uddhav toured villages that had suffered crop loss due to unseasonal rain, Sawant met him and gave him 'prasad'.
This is for the first time in the state that a second swearing-in ceremony of a Chief Minister -- of a different alliance government -- within a gap of five days, will be held.
At the crack of dawn last Saturday (November 23), a two-member government comprising CM Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was sworn-in, leaving the state and country in a daze.
The 28-acre sprawling Shivaji Park is being spruced up for the mega event. This is the venue where the Shiv Sena was virtually born and nurtured with its annual Dussehra rallies, a red-letter day in the calendar of all Shiv Sainiks, from where the party's founder used to address the cowering leaders in Delhi and Mumbai.
The 94-year-old ground, the biggest in south Mumbai, is also a nursery of cricket; it gave us a 'Bharat Ratna' in the form of Sachin Tendulkar, who cut his cricketing teeth at Shivaji Park during the mid '80s.
