In an overnight twist, Devendra Fadnavis took oath as Maharashtra chief minister for his second term on Saturday and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Ajit Pawar as deputy chief minister.
Fadnavis who sworn in as Maharashtra chief minister once again said, "People had given us a clear mandate but Shiv Sena tried to ally with other parties after results, as a result, President's rule was imposed. Maharashtra needed a stable government and not a 'khichdi' government."
He further added, "I would like to express my gratitude to NCP's Ajit Pawar ji, he took this decision to give a stable government to Maharashtra and come together with BJP. Some other leaders also came with us and we staked claim to form the government."
Speaking on this surprise development, Ajit Pawar said, "From result day to this day no party was able to form the government, Maharashtra was facing many problems including farmer issues, so we decided to form a stable government."
PM Modi also took to Twitter and congratulated the two leaders saying, "I am confident they will work diligently for the bright future of Maharashtra."
After talks on '50-50' formula between the BJP and Shiv Sena had failed, the latter was trying to form an alternative government with NCP and Congress. For over two weeks, the three parties were working on a common minimum programme but have not reached a conclusion to finally seal the deal.
On Friday, reports had surfaced that both NCP and Congress were willing to have Uddhav Thackeray as the next Maharashtra Chief Minister while Ajit Pawar and Congress' Thorat as Deputy Chief Minister. It was also expected that the three parties will soon announce their alliance but Saturday came as a surprise when Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar took oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister.
