1 / 5The Congress and Shiv Sena were caught sleeping and checkmated by the Nationalist Congress Party and BJP in an early morning coup when BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis took oath as Chief Minister and Sharad Pawar's nephew Ajit Pawar was made his deputy.
2 / 5In a stunning political development, Maharashtra Governor BS Koshyari on Saturday morning administered the oath of office to Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis as the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
3 / 5The two were sworn-in as chief minister and deputy chief minister at a function in the Raj Bhavan held around 8 am in the presence of a few BJP and NCP leaders, and other government officials.
4 / 5Fadnavis said that after the elections, the Shiv Sena which had secured a clear majority in alliance with BJP rejected the public mandate and was engaged in forming the government with some other parties necessitating President's Rule in Maharashtra. Since it did not appear possible for those three parties to form a 'khichdi' (hotch-potch') government and in order to provide a stable government to the state the decision was taken.
5 / 5On his part, Ajit Pawar said that giving the state a stable government was the need of the hour which did not appear to be happening. "I was tired of the continuous negotiations going on and so decided to go with Fadnavis and give a stable government to the state," Pawar said.
