'Roles May Change, Goals Won't': Fadnavis' First Comment After Taking Charge as Maharashtra CM

New Delhi: In his first comment after taking oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis said that the roles of the Mahayuti leaders might have changed but their goals remain the same, which is the betterment of the state. “In the last 2.5 years, we have worked for the development of Maharashtra and from here to we will work for the development of Maharashtra and we will not stop now, the direction and speed are the same, only our roles have changed... We will make decisions for the betterment of Maharashtra. We want to complete the work that we mentioned in our manifesto”, said the BJP leader, soon after taking oath as Maharashtra CM for the third time with NCP leader Ajit Pawar and Sena's Eknath Shinde as his deputies.  

Meanwhile, signing his first file after taking charge, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis approved a proposal to provide financial assistance of Rs five lakh for a patient awaiting a bone marrow transplant. Pune-based Chandrakant Kurhade's wife had sought help from the Chief Minister's relief fund for her husband's treatment. The chief minister put his signature on the file before he chaired the first cabinet meeting.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi , several Union ministers and chief ministers of various states besides thousands of supporters of the Mahayuti alliance were present at the oath-taking ceremony, which took place almost a fortnight after the results of the assembly elections were declared on November 23. No other ministers were sworn in. The ministry will be expanded next week, ahead of the winter session of state legislature in Nagpur, sources said.  Those present included Union ministers Amit Shah , JP Nadda, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Chief ministers of various NDA-ruled states were also present, including Yogi Adityanath, Nitish Kumar, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Mohan Yadav and Pramod Sawant. 

Leading lights from Bollywood and India Inc, including Sanjay Dutt, and Mukesh Ambani, were among those present at the ceremony.

Fadnavis, 54, elected from Nagpur South West constituency, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor C P Radhakrishnan, who also swore in Shinde (60) and Pawar (65). Fadnavis emerged as the frontrunner for the top post as he was the face of the BJP's campaign and led the party to victory in 132 seats in the 288-member House.

The BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP 'Mahayuti' coalition has a commanding majority of 230 seats.