Devendra Fadnavis Sworn In As Maharashtra Chief Minister

Mumbai, Dec 5: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday took the oath of office as Chief Minister of Maharashtra in a ceremony held at Mumbai's Azad Maidan.

Governor CP Radhakrishnan administered the oath to Fadnavis.

The ceremony witnessed the presence of prominent leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

Chief Ministers from various states, such as Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh), Nitish Kumar (Bihar), Vishnu Deo Sai (Chhattisgarh), Pramod Sawant (Goa), Bhupendra Patel (Gujarat), and Pushkar Singh Dhami (Uttarakhand), were also in attendance.

Prominent personalities, including cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Ranveer Singh, and Madhuri Dixit, graced the event.

Born on July 22, 1970, into a middle-class family in Nagpur, Fadnavis holds a graduate degree in law, a postgraduate degree in business management, and a diploma in project management.

Fadnavis began his political career in 1992 when he was elected as a councillor in the Nagpur Municipal Corporation, serving two consecutive terms. Subsequently, he has been elected as an MLA for five consecutive terms.

From 2014 to 2019, Fadnavis served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, becoming the second-youngest Chief Minister in the state's history after Sharad Pawar.

In addition to his role as Chief Minister, Fadnavis held key portfolios, including Home, General Administration, IT, Urban Development, Law and Judiciary, Ports, and Information & Public Relations.

During his tenure as Chief Minister, he spearheaded several flagship projects and initiatives, such as Mumbai Next, the Police Digitisation Project, the Samruddhi Expressway, and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Krishi Sanman Scheme.

Fadnavis briefly held the Chief Minister's post for five days during the 2019 Maharashtra political crisis. This occurred after the Shiv Sena, led by Uddhav Thackeray, formed a government with the Congress and the then-united Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), breaking its longstanding alliance with the BJP.

The 2024 Maharashtra Assembly Election proved to be a historic win for the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, which secured a landslide victory with 235 seats. The BJP emerged as the single largest party, winning 132 seats.

The Shiv Sena and NCP also performed well, securing 57 and 41 seats, respectively.

Meanwhile, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a severe setback. Congress managed to win only 16 seats, while its ally Shiv Sena (UBT) won 20 seats. The NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) secured a mere 10 seats. (ANI)