After a prolong uncertainty over the government formation that lasted nearly a month, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday took oath for the second term and said that he will provide a stable government in the state following entering into an alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
"I would like to express my gratitude to NCP's Ajit Pawar ji for taking the decision and coming together with BJP for a stable government in Maharashtra. Some other leaders also came with us and we staked claim to form the government. After that, we have also staked claim to Governor for the government formation," Fadnavis told exclusively to ANI soon after taking the oath.
"The Governor requested the President to withdraw the President's rule in Maharashtra and invited us to form the government. I have a firm belief that we will provide a stable government to Maharashtra," he said.
Fadnavis also hit out at his former ally Shiv Sena and said that they tried to have an alliance with other parties even the people had given a clear mandate.
"I extend my gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president Amit Shah and working president JP Nadda for giving me chance to serve Maharashtra as the Chief Minister again," Fadnavis told ANI.
"People had given us a clear mandate, but Shiv Sena tried to ally with other parties after results, as a result, President's rule was imposed. This is not right for the state. That is why Maharashtra needed a stable government not a 'khichdi' government," he said.
BJP, with 105 seats forged alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party which bagged 54 seats to garner the majority figure.
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NCP's Ajit Pawar took oath as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
The move came at a time when deliberations between Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena 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.
Shiv Sena bagged 56 seats while 44 seats went to Congress in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly.
The BJP, which emerged as the single largest party, 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 state 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.