Fadnavis sworn in as Maharashtra CM

Devendra Fadnavis was sworn-in as the chief minister of the first BJP government of Maharashtra at a gala public function here Friday.

Nine other ministers also took the oath.

Maharashtra Governor C. V. Rao administered the oath of office and secrecy to Fadnavis (44) and the others at a glittering ceremony in the sprawling Wankhede Stadium witnessed by over 30,000 people.

Present on the historic occasion were Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah, business tycoons, film personalities, sportspersons and celebrities from different walks of life.

The ministers sworn-in include Eknath Khadse, former minister and also former leader of opposition in the last assembly and Vinod S. Tawde, the leader of opposition in the legislative council.

Former state unit president Sudhir S. Mungantiwar, former Mumbai unit chief Prakash M. Mehta, late union minister Gopinath Munde's daughter Pankaja Munde-Palwe, Chandrakant Patil and the party's tribal face Vishnu R. Savra also took oath as cabinet ministers.

Dilip Kamble and Vidya Thakur, the former deputy mayor of Mumbai and giant-killer in the last elections who defeated Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai, were sworn-in as ministers of state.

Fadnavis' oath-taking was cheered loudly by the massive crowd of BJP activists which packed the stadium this afternoon.

Other prominent personalties present included senior BJP leaders L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, chief ministers of several states including Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana, and business tycoon Anil Ambani. - IANS