Uddhav Thackeray will be the First Shiv Sena Chief Minister after 20 years

Congress President Sonia Gandhi, MK Stalin, Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, besides all Congress Chief Ministers have been invited for tomorrow’s swearing-in ceremony.

IOP Bureau

New Delhi/Mumbai Nov 27, 2019: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will be the first Shiv Sena Chief Minister after 20 years. Maharashtra's Chief Minister-designate Uddhav Thackeray will take oath to office tomorrow evening, at the sprawling Shivaji Park in Central Mumbai.

Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray on Wednesday night separately met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi and invited them for Uddhav Thackeray's swearing-in as Maharashtra Chief Minister.

He had a brief meeting with Gandhi at her 10, Janpath residence in the national capital. The Congress tweeted a photo of the two leaders from its official Twitter handle.

Aaditya Thackeray, the MLA from Worli in central Mumbai, was accompanied by Shiv Sena secretary Milind Narvekar.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi, MK Stalin, Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, besides all Congress Chief Ministers have been invited for tomorrow’s swearing-in ceremony.

The senior Thackeray also extended the invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a call. The prime minister gave his best wishes to the Shiv Sena supremo ahead of the ceremony on Thursday.

The last Sena man to occupy the CM’s chair was Narayan Rane in 1999, after Manohar Joshi, who in 1995 became the first Sena CM.

Thackeray is Maha Vikas Aghadi, a Shiv Sena, NCP, Congress alliance nominee for the post.

Congress is one of the key constituents of the three-party coalition 'Maha Vikas Aghadi' (MVA). The 29-year-old Thackeray scion later told reporters he had called on Gandhi to personally invite her for the oath-taking ceremony to be held at the Shivaji Park in central Mumbai on Thursday evening.

The Sharad Pawar-led NCP and the Sena are the other key members of the MVA, which also consists of smaller parties and some independents.

The swearing-in follows days of dramatic developments, including the three-day government formed by the BJP with the unexpected support from NCP leader Ajit Pawar, who has since returned to the Sharad Pawar-led party fold.

The BJP-led government, collapsed yesterday after Ajit Pawar stepped down as deputy Chief Minister. Soon after, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis too submitted his resignation to the Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

The Governor, however, asked Mr Fadnavis to remain care-taker chief minister till alternative arrangements.

A special session of the 14th state assembly was called today where the oath was administered to 285 newly- elected members by pro-tem Speaker Kalidas Kolambkar. Legislature Secretary Rajendra Bhagwat said a decision on the date for Speaker's election will be taken after the Cabinet meeting, following the swearing-in of Mr Thackeray.

Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court today raised security concerns over the swearing-in ceremony of Mr Thackeray as chief minister at Shivaji Park and said holding such events at a public ground should not become a regular feature.

Earlier, NCP leader Ajit Pawar addressed a meeting of its MLAs at YB Chavan centre. He said he informed the MLAs about tomorrow’s swearing-in and that all have to be there.

When asked about his backing to the short-lived BJP-led govt, Pawar said, it was not a revolt.  Care-taker Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said he will speak at right time about the support extended by Ajit Pawar to the BJP in forming the government last week.

The MVA of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress alliance was stitched after hectic parleys involving Sena President Uddhav Thackeray, NCP President Sharad Pawar and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

The alliance is expected to have a Common Minimum Programme. The CPI (M) has said that they won’t oppose government formation by the MVA. (with inputs from web media)