In a surprise move, BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis has taken oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for a second term at Raj Bhavan at 8am on Satuday morning. Ajit Pawar, of the National Congress Party, took the oath as deputy CM.
“We wanted a star government in Maharashtra, not a "khichdi" government. Keeping that in mind, Ajit Pawar approached me and other leaders. We went to the Governor and put forth our claim. The Governor asked for the President's rule to be revoked, and asked us to take oath. We are sure there will be a stable government in Maharashtra now,” Devendra Fadnavis said, after taking the oath.
This comes after NCP’s Sharad Pawar on Friday evening declared that Uddhav Thackeray would take over as CM for a full five-year term, following a two-hour joint meeting between the Congress-NCP-Shiv Sena alliance.
"Since the results were announced, no party was able to form a government, Maharashtra is facing many issues and farmers are in distress. With this in mind, we have decided to form a stable government," Ajit Pawar said.
Ajit Pawar, nephew of Sharad Pawar, had told the media that he came to the decision to support the BJP. While it was earlier unclear whether or not Sharad Pawar was also part of the plan, he tweeted that Ajit's decision was "personal" on Saturday around 9.30 am.
Ajit Pawar's decision to support the BJP to form the Maharashtra Government is his personal decision and not that of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
— Sharad Pawar (@PawarSpeaks) November 23, 2019
We place on record that we do not support or endorse this decision of his.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut echoed Sharad Pawar's sentiments to the media on Saturday. "Sharad Pawar has no connection to the deceit Ajit Pawar has done," he said.
He continued, “Business has been committed in the dark of the night. Ajit Pawar has stabbed us in the back. Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar will hold a joint press meet on this. The way in which BJP has done this behind closed curtains with power and money, the people of Maharashtra will not forgive them.”
“When negotiations were going on last evening, Ajit Pawar was not looking into our eyes. Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar have got nothing to do with this. Sharad Pawar had no information,” he said.
Chandrakant Patil, BJP's Maharashtra President, told the media, "On 24 October, after Maha Vidhan Sabha results, the public mandate was with the BJP and Shiv Sena. They should have formed the governement. They didn't even sit and talk with the BJP even once. The mandate was with the BJP, so why wouldn't we form the government?"
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his congratulations on Saturday morning.
Congratulations to @Dev_Fadnavis Ji and @AjitPawarSpeaks Ji on taking oath as the CM and Deputy CM of Maharashtra respectively. I am confident they will work diligently for the bright future of Maharashtra.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 23, 2019
President's rule in Maharastra was reportedly revoked at 5.47am on Saturday.
NCP Chief Sharad Pawar met Prime Minister Modi earlier this week to reportedly seek “urgent intervention” and relief for the distressed farmers in the state. The meeting lasted 45 minutes.
On Friday night, it seemed almost certain that Uddhav Thackeray would take over as CM of the state, with the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Shiv Sena forming an alliance. However Uddhav Thackeray had not confirmed the decision and had sought time to mull over the proposal.
Out of the 288 seats in the Maharashtra Assembly, the BJP won 105 seats, the NCP won 54 seats, while Congress and Shiv Sena won 44 and 56 respectively. There are 13 elected independent candidates. However, according to reports, only 22 MLAs have offered support to Ajit Pawar.
Before the state Assembly elections, the BJP and Shiv Sena had joined hands to contest the elections, but the Sena removed itself from the 30-year-old alliance with the BJP as the latter would not offer Uddhav Thackeray the Chief Ministership.
The elections resulted in a hung assembly on October 24. On November 12, the Governor recommended President’s rule be imposed in Maharashtra as none of the political parties came forward to stake claim and form the government.