Maharashtra: Fadnavis takes oath as CM; Shinde and Pawar sworn in as Dy CMs in star-studded ceremony

Mumbai: BJP legislature party leader Devendra Fadnavis was sworn-in as new chief minister of Maharashtra while allies Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar took oath as deputy CMs at a grand ceremony here on Thursday evening.

The event, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several Union ministers and chief ministers of various states besides thousands of supporters of the BJP-led Mahayuti, took place at the Azad Maidan ground nearly two weeks after the results of the assembly elections were declared on November 23.

Fadnavis, 54, elected from Nagpur South West constituency, became chief minister for the third time.

Governor C P Radhakrishnan administered the oath of office to Fadnavis and his two deputies.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP National President JP Nadda, and other National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders attended the swearing-in ceremony at Azad Maidan. 

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami were also present at the event.

Union Ministers including Nitin Gadkari, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Chirag Paswan, along with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, also graced the occasion.

Prominent celebrities such as cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Ranveer Singh, and Madhuri Dixit were among those in attendance.