Devendra Fadnavis to take oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister today, Shinde to be deputy

Devendra Fadnavis will be sworn-in as the Maharashtra chief minister today evening, sources said. Rebel Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde will also be sworn in as the deputy chief minister.

This comes a day after Uddhav Thackeray resigned as the chief minister, marking the end of Maha Vikas Aghadi government rule in the state.

Meanwhile, both the leaders are headed to the Raj Bhavan where they will meet Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari where they will submit a letter of support of the MLAs and formally stake claim to form the government.

Earlier in the day, Shinde arrived in Mumbai from Goa and headed to Devendra Fadnavis’ residence. The duo held a brief meeting before leaving for the governor house.

The BJP has said that it has the support of a total of 170 MLAs, including those from Shinde’s rebel faction. The Mumbai police had made heavy security arrangements in view of Shinde’s arrival in the city. Roads were emptied so that Shinde’s cavalcade faces no hindrance while going to ‘Sagar’, the official bungalow of Fadnavis located at Malabar Hill in south Mumbai.

The hectic political developments come a day after Uddhav Thackeray resigned as the Maharashtra chief minister on Wednesday night after the Supreme Court had cleared the decks for a flood test today. Thackeray’s resignation meant the end of the Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition which ruled the state for 31 months.