Published 21:25 IST, November 28th 2019
Uddhav Thackeray's swearing-in: Leaders who attended the ceremony and who missed it
A large number of leaders including ex-CM Devendra Fadnavis and Uddhav Thackeray's estranged cousin Raj Thackeray attended the swearing-in of Sena Supremo
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As the state of Maharashtra finally got its 18th Chief Minister in Uddhav Thackeray after the Shiv Sena's month-long tussle with the former alliance partner BJP and a series of negotiations with new alliance partners NCP and Congress, a plethora of leaders including the former ally turned opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis were present at the swearing-in ceremony of Uddhav Thackeray. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader MK Stalin and Uddhav Thackeray’s estranged cousin Raj Thackeray who had a fallout with Shiv Sena came to attend the swearing-in ceremony that was held at Shivaji Park.
Leaders who attended and the ones who gave it a miss
Congress leader Kapil Sibal who presented the Congress-NCP-Sena case in Supreme Court against the formation of short-lived BJP government also attended the ceremony. Besides Sibal, Mallikarjun Kharge, KC Venugopal who held talks from 10 Janpath with the NCP and Sena were also present. Other Congress leaders include former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and Sushil Shinde, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, and Praful Patel also attended the ceremony. From the NCP fold, party Supremo Sharad Pawar, his daughter Supriya Sule and nephew Ajit Pawar attended the ceremony, besides, many Congress and NCP leaders took oath in the swearing-in ceremony.
However, neither the Congress Interim Chief Sonia Gandhi nor anybody from the Gandhi family attended the swearing-in ceremony despite Aaditya Thackeray visiting 10 Janpath to invite them personally.
After the swearing-in ceremony in the presence of Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Uddhav Thackeray became the 18th Chief Minister of Maharashtra, 8th Non-MLA Chief Minister, third from Shiv Sena, and first from the Thackeray family. It has been announced that the Deputy Chief Minister's post will be awarded to NCP, Congress will get the speaker's post. The NCP is yet to decide whether to award the Deputy CM post to Ajit Pawar or be given to someone else from the party.
19:06 IST, November 28th 2019