MUMBAI: The swearing-in of Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar and several of his colleagues as deputy chief minister and ministers, respectively, on Sunday has meant Maharashtra has seen four oath-taking ceremonies in as many years at its stately Raj Bhavan.
In November 2019, after the Assembly polls and the split between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena, Devendra Fadnavis and NCP’s Ajit Pawar were sworn in as CM and Deputy CM, respectively, in an early morning ceremony in Raj Bhavan.
The government lasted just 80 hours as Pawar was unable to cause a split in his party.
Within a month, Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray was sworn in as CM after his party joined hands with the NCP and Congress to form the Maha Vikas Agahdi government.
Incidentally, Ajit Pawar, who had returned to the NCP, was the deputy CM in this government.
The MVA government fell in June last year after minister Eknath Shinde and 39 MLAs revolted against Thackeray and split the Shiv Sena.
Shinde was sworn in as CM on June 30 with the support of the BJP. This time, Fadnavis as made deputy CM.
While Bhagat Singh Koshyari was the governor when the first three oath-taking ceremonies took place, Sunday’s political developments have come when Ramesh Bais is occupying the gubernatorial chair.
Assembly polls in Maharashtra are likely to be held around October next year, some months after the Lok Sabha elections.