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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday congratulated the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Devendra Fadnavis and Nationalist Congress Party’s Ajit Pawar on taking oath as Maharashtra's chief minister and deputy chief minister respectively and exuded confidence that the new government will work for the state's bright future.
Taking to Twitter, Modi said, "Congratulations to @Dev_Fadnavis Ji and @AjitPawarSpeaks Ji on taking oath as the CM and Deputy CM of Maharashtra respectively. I am confident they will work diligently for the bright future of Maharashtra."
The oath of office was administered by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhavan.
In a major development, Fadnavis earlier on Saturday morning took oath as the chief minister for the second consecutive term while Pawar took oath as deputy chief minister of the state.
The move came at a time when deliberations between Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena on government formation seemingly reached the final stage on Friday.
Earlier, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar had claimed that there was a consensus on Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray as chief minister of the alliance government.
The BJP, which emerged as the single largest party in last month's assembly elections, could not stake claim to form a government as its ally Shiv Sena remained firm on rotating the chief minister's post and equal sharing of Cabinet berths.
Shiv Sena parted its ways with BJP to explore ways to form a government. It, however, failed to prove the support of the required number of MLAs in the time given by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.
The governor had then invited NCP, the third-largest party, to prove its ability to form the government failing which President's Rule was imposed in the state.
The BJP won 105 seats in the 288-member assembly followed by Shiv Sena with 56, NCP 54 and Congress 44.
BJP president Amit Shah too expressed confidence that the new Maharashtra government under Devendra Fadnavis, who took oath as chief minister in the early morning on Saturday, will scale new heights of development.
Shah tweeted his congratulations to Fadnavis and NCP leader Ajit Pawar, who was sworn in as the deputy chief minister, after the oath-taking ceremony.
"Hearty congratulations to Shri @Dev_Fadnavis ji on taking oath as Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Shri @AjitPawarSpeaks as Deputy Chief Minister of the state.
"I am confident that this government will be continuously committed to the development and welfare of Maharashtra and will set new standards of progress in the state," Shah tweeted.
BJP working president J P Nadda also congratulated Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar.
"I Congratulate @Dev_Fadnavis Ji and @AjitPawarSpeaks Ji on taking oath as the CM and Deputy CM of Maharashtra respectively. I am sure that under the guidance of Hon PM @narendramodi Ji, BJP-NCP Gov will take Maharashtra to newer heights."
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said Fadnavis' return as chief minister honours the mandate of the people. "Congratulations Devendra Fadnavis on becoming the chief minister of Maharashtra again. His becoming the CM honours the mandate because 'khichdi' (referring to Congress, NCP, Shiv Sena negotiations) was anti-mandate. The people of Maharashtra are victorious. Congratulations to them," Javadekar tweeted.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted, "Congratulations to Devendra Fadnavis ji and Ajit Pawar ji for taking oath as the CM and Deputy CM of Maharashtra respectively. Under your leadership and good governance, the state will achieve new heights of development & provide a better future to the people of Maharashtra."
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat also congratulated Fadnavis.
"Hearty congratulations to Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar for becoming Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. I am confident that this government will work with commitment and dedication for public welfare and will establish new dimensions of progress and prosperity," Yogi Adityanath tweeted.
"Hearty congratulations to Devendra Fadnavis for becoming the chief minister of Maharashtra for the second time. Also, congratulations to Ajit Pawar for taking oath as the deputy chief minister of the state. The new government will continue the progress journey of Maharashtra at a faster pace," Trivendra Singh Rawat tweeted.
-- With inputs from ANI