Mumbai/IBNS: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strongman Devendra Fadnavis Thursday took oath as the new Maharashtra Chief Minister after a stellar performance of his party in the recently concluded Assembly elections in the politically crucial state.b

Along with Fadnavis, two of his deputies—Shiv Sena boss Eknath Shinde and NCP leader Ajit Pawar—were also sworn in during the grand ceremony that was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ending nearly two weeks of stalemate.

Fadnavis is now a three-time Maharashtra chief minister besides being a six-time MLA.

Five years ago, he was removed as Chief Minister despite the BJP and the then-undivided Shiv Sena winning the 2019 election.

However, the two then split and Uddhav Thackeray allied the Sena with the Congress and the (also then undivided) NCP to form a government by the Maha  Vikas Aghadi.

On Thursday evening, at Mumbai's iconic Azad Maidan, Fadnavis kept his promise to bounce back to power by twin political masterstrokes by the BJP - one of destabilising and dividing the Sena and NCP, and picking up the pieces. Those pieces in the form of Shinde and Ajit Pawar laid the foundation for the Mahayuti's big win.

The Mahayuti alliance secured a dominant victory in the November 20 elections, winning 230 out of 288 Assembly seats.

The BJP emerged as the largest party with a record 132 seats, while the Shiv Sena and NCP won 57 and 41 seats, respectively.

Fadnavis' role as the CM was cleared after Eknath Shinde, who led the Mahayuti Alliance government after splitting with Uddhav Thackeray, said he won't be a problem and left the decision to the top leadership of the BJP.

However, reports earlier revealed that Shinde wasn’t willing to accept the Deputy’s role in the new setting.

There were rumours that he might even skip the oath-taking ceremony, according to an NDTV report.

The speculations gained momentum after Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Shirsat said the party members are set to convince Shinde to take oath.