Uddhav Thackeray is Maharashtra Chief Minister, Ajit Pawar deputy

Mumbai: After a lot of twists and turns regarding the Maharashtra government, the state finally found a stable Chief Minister in Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray. He took oath at Shivaji Park on Thursday.

Uddhav Thackeray is now the first from the Thackeray family, third from Shiv Sena, and 19th overall to become the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

After Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress decided to join an unlikely alliance, and they acquired the required majority in their combined 145 seats. The alliance unanimously elected Uddhav to be the CM.

Much before everything, Ajit Pawar of the NCP had turned the table against his uncle Sharad Pawar when he joined with BJP. The latter formed a government with Devendra Fadnavis as the CM and Ajit as the Deputy CM. However, the government failed to reach the magical number, and the entire issue was laid to rest.

Prominent personalities such as the Ambanis, DMK President MK Stalin, Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath, Chattisgarh CM Bhupesh Bhagel, MNS chief Raj Thackeray, and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav were present at Shiv Sena’s birthplace — Shivaji Park — for the swearing-in ceremony.

Eknath Shinde and Diwakar Raote from Shiv Sena, Jayant Patil and Chhagan Bhujbal from NCP, Balasaheb Thorat and Nitin Raut from Congress took oath as cabinet ministers. Their portfolios are yet to be decided. Surprisingly, Ajit Pawar is all set to be the Deputy CM in spite of him turning his back on NCP.

Out of the big names present, the Gandhis’ absence has now raised many questions on the Sena-NCP-Congress government.