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Fadnavis can take oath on Oct 28

Last Updated 24 October 2014, 20:03 IST

Devendra Fadnavis is likely to be sworn in as the new Maharashtra chief minister on October 28, a day after he is scheduled to be elected leader of the BJP legislature party.

Fadnavis, 44, is expected to take oath at the Wankhede Stadium instead of Raj Bhavan in Mumbai to facilitate a larger gathering to witness the ceremony, BJP sources said.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP general secretary J P Nadda have been named as central observers to oversee Fadnavis' election as BJP legislature party leader.
Thereafter, Governor Vidyasagar Rao will invite Fadnavis to form the government with the support of the Shiv Sena. The BJP-Sena coalition has 186 seats in the 288-member Assembly. 

The date for Fadnavis' takeover is said to have been finalised after Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray conveyed his willingness to back a BJP government through his emissaries — Rajya Sabha MP Anil Desai and ex-MLA Subhas Desai — who met top BJP leaders on Wednesday.

Thackeray may meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Mumbai on Saturday though it has not been scheduled yet. Modi is inaugurating a Reliance Foundation hospital in Mumbai, where the Sena chief is also likely to be present.

Meanwhile, Sena leaders are hoping to corner 14 ministerial berths in the new government.

Fadnavis, who is Maharashtra BJP president, emerged as the party high command’s choice after discussion among party leaders. The tussle within BJP over the chief minister’s post was settled on Thursday after Fadnavis called on Union minister Nitin Gadkari to exchange “Diwali greetings.”

Later, Gadkari reiterated that he wished to continue in the Union Cabinet instead of returning to his home state Maharashtra as chief minister.

Modi has invited all MPs of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, including the Sena, for a dinner meeting on Sunday.

“I will attend it and so will all Sena MPs,” Shiv Sena's lone member in the Modi government Anant Geete said.

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(Published 24 October 2014, 20:03 IST)

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