Power shift: Shinde CM, Fadnavis is his deputy

Mumbai/ New Delhi: Contrary to expectations that BJP stalwart Devendra Fadnavis will head the new government in Maharashtra replacing Uddhav Thackeray, rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde was on Thursday sworn in as the 20th chief minister of the state while Fadnavis took oath as deputy CM bringing a dramatic end to the ten-day-old political crisis which had gripped the state.

Fadnavis who was widely seen as the next CM after the collapse of the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government on Wednesday, sprang a huge surprise when he announced that Shinde will occupy the top post. He initially announced that he will not be part of the new dispensation but minutes later, BJP president JP Nadda said in New Delhi that Fadnavis, a former CM, will be part of the Cabinet led by Shinde, whose rebellion against the Shiv Sena leadership brought down the two-and-a-halfyear old MVA government.

“Devendra Fadnavis has shown a big heart and decided to join the new Maharashtra cabinet,” Nadda tweeted. The focus then shifted to Raj Bhavan in south Mumbai where Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administered the oath of office to Shinde (58) and his deputy Fadnavis (51). Shinde, a fourtime MLA, began his oath by paying tributes to late Shiv Sena leaders Bal Thackeray and Anand Dighe, his political mentor in Thane.

“Development of the state is my priority. I will take all sections of society along with me,” Shinde said after the ceremony. The swearing-in ceremony took place a day after Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, deserted by most of his party MLAs, including ministers, resigned as CM after deciding not to face a floor test in the Assembly ordered by the Governor on Thursday.

The crisis in the MVA government began on June 21 when Shinde walked away with a bunch of MLAs whose number later swelled to 39 and camped first at Surat and then at Guwahati. Shinde, hailing originally from a village in Satara district in western Maharashtra, is the MLA from KopriPachpakhadi in Thane city

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Maha session from July 2

A two-day special session of the Maharashtra legislature will be held from July 2. The decision was taken in the fi rst cabinet meeting after Shinde took over as the new CM. On the fi rst day, election to the post of Assembly speaker will be held. The session is also likely to see the new CM seeking a trust vote in the Assembly to prove he has the numbers to form the government. Shinde had broken away from the previous MVA government with about 40 Sena MLAs and 10 Independents.