Uddhav takes charge of Maharashtra, now all focus on portfolio allocation

Mumbai: On Thursday evening, Uddhav Thackeray took oath as Maharashtra’s Chief Minister at the Shivaji Park in Mumbai. Along with Uddhav, six other ministers were sworn in by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari as the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress alliance (Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi) formally took power.

Soon after taking oath, Thackeray held the new cabinet’s meeting. After the meet, he said: “I want to assure the people of the state that we will give a good government. I want to help the farmers in a manner which will make them happy.”

After forming the government, the next big step for the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi would be to get its trust vote passed on the floor of the Assembly, followed by the expansion of cabinet.

While staking claim, the three-party alliance had submitted letters of support of 166 MLAs. The Governor has given the MVA seven days, till December 3, to submit proof of the support.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray is expected to take charge of his office at Mantralaya on Friday and also allocate portfolios to the ministers soon.

The Speaker’s post has been given to the Congress, but the party has not decided its nominee.

The three parties have 12 to 15 ministerial berths for which they would have to pick legislators to maintain the balance between different regions and castes.

Uddhav Thackeray, 59, bowed before the "Shivrajyabhishek", a statue depicting the crowning of warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji, before taking oath in Marathi. An array of political leaders and his family were a part of the swearing-in ceremony.

On Wednesday, Thackeray had invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the oath ceremony. PM Modi, however, did not attend but tweeted congratulations.

Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Manmohan Singh did not attend the function either, but they wrote to the Sena Chief.

Uddhav Thackeray is the eighth Chief Minister of Maharashtra to be sworn in despite not being a legislator. He is the third Sena Chief Minister after Manohar Joshi and Narayan Rane. He is the first Sena Chief Minister of a secular government.

 

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