Maharashtra: The Maharashtra political crisis finally came to rest with a big surprise. Head of the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs Eknath Shinde has been named as the State’s Chief Minister in a major turn of events. Former CM Devendra Fadnavis announced Shinde’s name at a press conference on Thursday.
The oath taking ceremony took place at the Raj Bhawan on Thursday and the CM took the oath sharp at 7.30 PM. Governor B S Koshiyari was present at the event.
The political turmoil came to an end after Uddhav Thackeray announced his resignation on Wednesday night giving a clear path to the opposition and rebels to form a Government. Better regarded as BJP’s Chief Ministerial face in Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis has been elected as the Deputy CM.
In the 288- member Maharashtra Assembly, BJP has 106 MLAs and Shinde is leading 39 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs and some independent legislators. The majority mark is 144. Home Minister Amit Shah disclosed on his twitter handle that Devendra Fadnavis has decided to join the Maharashtra Government on the request of BJP chief JP Nadda.
Eknath Shinde supporters celebrated this news at the Goa hotel where they checked in last night. Meanwhile, Shinde in a statement said that his decision of taking an exit from Uddhav’s led Shiv Sena was to protect Balasaheb’s Hindutva ideology.