Fadnavis-led Maharashtra govt may get time till Nov 30 to prove majority: Sources

After BJP's Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for the second consecutive term on Saturday morning with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar as the Deputy CM, sources say that the Fadnavis will have to prove majority on the floor of the House by November 30.

The Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has set a November 30 deadline for the NCP-BJP government to prove its majority in the Vidhan Sabha.

The deadlock over government formation in Maharashtra came to an end when the Maharashtra Governor swore in Devendra Fadnavis as the Maharashtra CM, and Ajit Pawar as Deputy CM today at around 8 am on Saturday.

Amid the ongoing political development, BJP MLA Girish Mahajan has claimed that Ajit Pawar has submitted a letter to the Governor where all the 54 NCP MLA's confirmed their support for the alliance.

However, there seems to be a rift appearing in the NCP as the party's supremo Sharad Pawar said that his nephew's decision to support the BJP to form the Maharashtra government is his personal decision and not that of the Nationalist Congress Party.

In a sudden turn of events surrounding the Maharashtra government formation, BJP and NCP formed the government in the state, a possibility which wasn't in sight so far. The development has come at a time when Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress were in talks to decide on a common minimum programme and were expected to announce their alliance to form the government soon but Saturday came as surprise for Sena and Congress.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena's leader Sanjay Raut slammed Ajit Pawar's decision of aligning with BJP. Hitting out at Ajit Pawar, Raut said, "Sharad Pawar saheb has nothing to do with this, Ajit Pawar has backstabbed the people of Maharashtra."

Speaking on this surprise development in Maharashtra, Sanjay Raut said, "till 9 pm last night (Friday), he (Ajit Pawar) was with them, disappeared suddenly... his conduct had put us in the doubt then only..." (Kal 9 baje tak ye mahashaye (Ajit Pawar) hamare saath baithe the, achanak se ghayab ho gaye baad mein, vo nazar se nazar mila kar baat nahi kar rahe the, us se hume shaq bhi hua tha)

BJP had won 105 seats, and NCP's tally was 54, together, both the parties cross the half-way mark 144, needed to form the government. 

After the swearing-in ceremony, Fadnavis said, "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. Maharashtra needed a stable government and not a 'khichdi' government."

He further added, "I would like to express my gratitude to NCP's Ajit Pawar ji, he took this decision to give a stable government to Maharashtra and come together with BJP. Some other leaders also came with us and we staked claim to form the government."Speaking on this surprise development, Ajit Pawar said, "From result day to this day no party was able to form the government, Maharashtra was facing many problems including farmer issues, so we decided to form a stable government."

PM Modi also took to Twitter and congratulated the two leaders saying, "I am confident they will work diligently for the bright future of Maharashtra."