‘I am deputy CM now, which means dedicated to common man’: Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde | India News – Times of India

Maharashtra deputy CM Eknath Shinde

NEW DELHI: Maharashtra deputy CM Eknath Shinde on Thursday congratulated Devendra Fadnavis for taking oath as the chief minister of the state for the third time with a paradigm-shattering mandate.
Shinde, who switched roles with Fadnavis in an opulent oath-taking ceremony at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan, said that earlier when he was CM he considered himself a common man but now that he was deputy CM, he would consider himself a “dedicated to common man”.
“Devendra Fadnavis has taken oath as CM in a historic swearing-in ceremony. I congratulate him. Maharashtra is a state that gives ideological direction to the country and I, who comes from a simple farmer family, got the opportunity to become the CM of such a state…PM Narendra Modi also supported us completely, gave us full strength. Union home minister Amit Shah also stood behind us with full strength…And that is why we could do so much work in 2.5 years,” Shinde said in his first statement after the state Cabinet meeting.
Recounting his work as CM in the past two-and-hour years, Shinde said: “We have taken so many historic decisions. This will be written in golden letters. I had said that in this election, we will see the result of the 2.5 year tenure of the government, we will get the blessings of the people. I am also happy that when we started, 2.5 years ago, 40 people were with us, today 60 people are there. Earlier I used to consider myself as a common man, not a chief minister, now as DCM, I consider myself dedicated to common man… I will fully support the CM and cooperate with him.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the oath-taking ceremony, which also saw Ajit Pawar from the NCP and former CM Eknath Shinde from Shiv Sena taking oath as deputy chief ministers.
The oath was administered by Maharashtra governor C P Radhakrishnan.
This is the third time Fadnavis, who represents Nagpur as an MLA, has assumed the role of Maharashtra chief minister. The event followed two weeks of discussions after the state assembly elections held on November 20, with results announced on November 23.
Union home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, BJP president J P Nadda were among the political heavyweights present during the event. The oath-taking ceremony was also attended by prominent industrialists, including Mukesh Ambani and Kumar Mangalam Birla. Former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and actors Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, and Ranveer Singh were also present at the event.
The BJP emerged as the largest party with 132 seats in the 288-member House. Together with its allies, Shiv Sena and NCP, the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition has a majority of 230 seats.