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.

Sena leader Eknath Shinde and NCP boss Ajit Pawar, whose stellar returns in last month’s election boosted the Mahayuti alliance to a thumping win, have been sworn in as Deputy Chief Ministers, retaining the existing 1+2 formula, albeit with the all-important tweak in favour of Mr Fadnavis.

Mr Fadnavis is now a three-time Chief Minister in addition to being a six-time MLA.

BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis takes oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for the third time, after Mahayuti’s landslide victory in the Assembly Elections 2024. Mahayuti, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance, includes Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP. Of the 288 seats, Mahayuti secured 230 seats – with BJP winning 132, Shiv Sena in 57 and NCP in 41 seats.

The swearing-in ceremony, which started at 5:30 pm Thursday, was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a host of religious and political leaders.

Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar take oath as Deputy Chief Ministers.

Maharashtra’s former Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who managed to drag out the suspense over the question of his joining the Devendra Fadnavis government till the last possible minute, took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister in Mumbai this evening. 

In his acceptance speech — which started even before the Governor could administer the oath — he recalled Bal Thackeray and Anand Dighe and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and the people of Maharashtra.