The month-long political impasse ended dramatically with Devendra Fadnavis returning as the chief minister again, backed by the Sharad Pawar-led NCP. NCP leader Ajit Pawar was sworn-in as the deputy chief minister at Raj Bhavan. Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administered the oath to the two in the morning ceremony, where only official media was present.

News agency ANI posted this video on social media platform Twitter:

#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) 23 November 2019

Fadnavis 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 govt not a 'khichdi' government."

Ajit Pawar told ANI, "From result day to this day no party was able to form Govt, Maharashtra was facing many problems including farmer issues, so we decided to form a stable government."

Congratulating the two, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, "Congratulations to Devendra Fadnavis ji and Ajit Pawar 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."

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) 23 November 2019

Interestingly, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar on Friday said that Shiv Sena's Uddhav Thackeray has been unanimously picked to lead the Maharashtra government.

Emerging from a marathon meeting of top leaders of the Congress, the NCP and the Sena, who are making efforts to form government in Maharashtra, Pawar said there was a consensus on Thackeray's leadership.

"There is a consensus that leadership of the government will be with Uddhav Thackeray," he told reporters after the meeting. He said the meeting at Nehru Centre in central Mumbai deliberated extensively on finalising an agenda for governance.

Coming out of the meeting, Uddhav Thackeray told reporters that the talks were satisfactory. "We will end the discussions soon and come before media," he added.

Results of the October 21 Assembly polls were declared on October 24 and President's rule was imposed in the state on November 12 after no party or combine staked claim to form the new government.

The state was plunged into a political crisis after the Sena broke its three-decade-long ties with the BJP after the latter declined to share the chief minister's post.

The BJP and Sena, which fought the Assembly polls in the alliance, had secured a comfortable majority by winning 105 and 56 seats, respectively, in the 288-member Assembly. The Congress and the NCP, pre-poll allies, won 44 and 54 seats, respectively.