The BJP legislature party met at the Central Hall of the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha on Wednesday, and elected Devendra Fadnavis as its leader who will be sworn in as the 21st Chief Minister of Maharashtra at a glittering ceremony at the historic Azad Maidan ground at 5 pm, on Thursday, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Shortly after the meeting, Maharashtra BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar said that the Mahayuti parties will meet Governor C P Radhakrishnan at 3.30 pm on Wednesday, to stake claim to form the government in Maharashtra.

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The assembly session, which was also attended by former Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman who were BJP’s central observers, focussed on Maharashtra’s development. Key plans discussed include promoting fintech, granting classical status to Marathi language, initiating infrastructure projects like the Vadavan sea port as well as a bullet train system.

It is learnt that Fadnavis is all set to meet Maharashtra Caretaker CM Eknath Shinde and NCP leader Ajit Pawar to discuss the formation of the cabinet and allocation of ministerial portfolios. Ajit Pawar is learnt to have left for Mumbai from Delhi for the meeting which will be held at Caretaker CM Eknath Shinde’s ‘Varsha’ bungalow in South Mumbai.

Earlier, at the BJP legislature party meeting on Wednesday, BJP MLAs Chandrakant Patil and Sudhir Mungantiwar proposed the name of Devendra Fadnavis as the leader of the BJP Legislature Party in the Maharashtra assembly. The proposal was then seconded by BJP MLA Pankaja Munde.

Almost immediately, BJP MLAs Pravin Darekar, Pankaja Munde and many others supported the proposal of Chandrakant Patil and Sudhir Mungantiwar.

Shortly thereafter, BJP central observer and former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani announced the election of Devendra Fadnavis as the leader of the BJP legislative group in the Maharashtra assembly.

As soon as the name of Devendra Fadnavis was announced, slogans of “Deva Bhau” were raised inside the Maharashtra legislative assembly while celebrations broke out in BJP offices, even as BJP central observer Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sithraman made a statement congratulating Devendra Fadnavis.

Fadnavis rose from his seat at the meeting and thanked Prime Minister Modi for his third stint as Chief Minister of Maharashtra. “I am thankful to PM Modi for placing his trust in me for a third time. Since I had taken the oath for a second stint, this will technically be my third term. I also thank Amit Shah,” Fadnavis said.

Fadnavis described the Maharashtra assembly elections as “historic” and echoed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Ek Hain to Safe Hain” election campaign slogan and also reiterated that “Modi Hai to Mumkin Hai”. He also extended his gratitude towards all leaders and MLAs present for unanimously choosing him as the Leader of Maharashtra BJP Legislative Party and expressed gratitude to caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar as well as Republican Party leader Ramdas Athawale.

“I thank everyone from the legislative party who chose me unanimously. I thank our central observers Rupaniji and Nirmalaji as well. As you all know, this was a historic election. It has proved that ‘Ek Hain To Safe Hai’ and ‘Modi Hai to Mumkin Hai’. We have restarted our series of victories with Haryana and now Maharashtra, which has given us such a thumping mandate that I completely bow down before Maharashtra’s voters. I also thank CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, besides Athawale as well as our other allies,” Fadnavis said.

“All I will say about this mandate is that there is happiness, but more than that, our responsibility has increased. We have to respect the mandate given to us today by everyone including Dalits, OBCs and tribals. It will be our priority to fulfill the promises made by you and take Maharashtra forward on all fronts,” he added.