D Fadnavis New Maharashtra Chief Minister, E Shinde, Ajit Pawar His Deputies

Mumbai: 

Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as Chief Minister of Maharashtra Thursday evening, capping nearly two weeks of suspense and a tug-of-war between the BJP and the Shiv Sena over the top post.

In his first remarks after taking charge, Mr Fadnavis outlined his vision for the state, declaring, “… from here (on) we will work for the development of Maharashtra and we will not stop.”

He also seemed to reach out to Sena leader Eknath Shinde, saying, “The direction and speed is the same… only our roles have changed… We will take decisions in Maharashtra’s interest.”

Mr Shinde  and NCP boss Ajit Pawar, whose stellar returns in last month’s election boosted the Mahayuti alliance to a thumping win, were sworn in as Deputy Chief Ministers, in that order, retaining the existing 1+2 formula, albeit with the big tweak in favour of Mr Fadnavis.

Shortly after being administered their oaths, all three paid floral tributes to Maratha icon Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Dr BR Ambedkar at Mantralaya, the HQ of the Maharashtra government. And Mr Fadnavis followed that by signing his first file as the new Chief Minister – a medical assistance cheque.