Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar take oath as the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, respectively. (Express Photo) Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar take oath as the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, respectively. (Express Photo)

Minutes after Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday congratulated him and his deputy NCP’s Ajit Pawar. PM Modi said he was confident the two leaders would work diligently for the future of the state.

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“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,” the PM tweeted.

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

Home Minister Amit Shah also congratulated the leaders and said that he was confident that the government will be committed to the development and welfare of the state.

Several other Union Ministers, including Nirmala Sitharaman, Rajnath Singh, and Nitin Gadkari also congratulated the leaders.

In a dramatic turn of events, Fadnavis took oath as the chief minister, along with Ajit Pawar taking oath as the deputy chief minister.

#WATCH Mumbai: Devendra Fadnavis takes oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister again, oath administered by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhawan. pic.twitter.com/kjWAlyMTci — ANI (@ANI) November 23, 2019

The oath-taking ceremony was administered by Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

Addressing the media soon after taking the oath, Fadnavis said, “I want to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for trusting in me. People had given a clear mandate. Shiv Sena rejected the mandate.”

“We want to assure the people of Maharashtra that whatever the challenges they are facing, we are going to face them strongly. We stand with the farmers during their time of distress,” he added.

Soon after taking oath as the deputy chief minister, Ajit Pawar said, “From the result day to this day no party was able to form government. Maharashtra was facing many problems including farmer issues, so we decided to form a stable government.”

The development comes a day after the alliance between Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress reached a consensus that Uddhav Thackeray would be the new Chief Minister of the state, heading a government of their alliance. NCP chief Sharad Pawar had told reporters, “As far as the Chief Minister’s post goes, there is consensus between the three parties that Uddhav Thackeray will lead the government.”

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