Maha twist: Devendra Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar join hands to stake claim

In a dramatic turn of events, Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday took oath as the Maharashtra Chief Minister along with NCP leader Ajit Pawar as his deputy. Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administered the oath of the two leaders at Raj Bhawan. (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. (Express Photo)

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." (Express Photo)

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.” (Express Photo)

While the details of the alliance are yet to be announced, Ajit, the nephew of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, seems to have sprung a surprise on his party. The BJP won 105 seats in the 228-member Assembly, while the NCP had garnered 54 seats. Apart from Ajit, no other NCP leader was present at the swearing-in ceremony. (Express Photo)

There were hectic but discreet negotiations between the BJP’s top leadership and NCP’s Ajit Pawar over the past few days. For this, BJP national president Amit Shah had put on the job his most trusted lieutenant, Bhupender Yadav, who is the party general secretary and in-charge of elections in Maharashtra. Even as the closed-room talks between NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and the Congress leaders were taking place, and there were revelations before the media by them, the BJP kept its cards close to its chest. (Express Photo)