After 11 days of drama, suspense and speculation, Devendra Fadnavis was elected unanimously as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party Legislature Party (BJPLP) leader here on Wednesday, thus paving way for him being sworn in as Maharashtra’s next Chief Minister at a ceremony to be held on Thursday.

Within hours after Fadnavis’ election as the BJPLP leader, the ruling MahaYuti - comprising BJP, Shiv Sena  and Nationalist Congress Party NCP (AP) met Governor CP Radhakrishnan at Raj Bhavan in south Mumbai and staked claim for forming a new Government in the State. The Governor invited them for the oath-taking ceremony scheduled for Thursday.

With his election as the BJPLP leader, 54-year-old Fadnavis will be administered the oath of office and secrecy as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for the third consecutive time, at a swearing-in ceremony to be held at the historic Azad Maidan in south Mumbai at 5.30 pm Thursday.

Fadnavis, who has once again staged a comeback as the chief minister of Maharashtra, was earlier the CM of the state for five years from October 2014 to October 2019 and for a brief 90 hours in November 2019.

A six-time MLA, Fadnavis is close to the top brass of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He is the second Brahmin chief minister in Maharashtra politics after Manohar Joshi of the united Shiv Sena who held the top post between 1995 and 1999.

In the run-up to the 2014 Maharashtra polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promoted Fadnavis as a chief ministerial candidate, by saying: “desh me Narendra, pradesh me Devendra”, while senior BJP leader Amit Shah had described him as “current and future” CM of Maharashtra.

Not many in Maharashtra political circles can forget his much-discussed statement “Me Punha Yain, Me Punha Yain” (I will return, I will return) that he had made repeatedly in the run-up to the 2019 State Assembly polls to suggest that he would return as the chief minister of the state.

It did not happen then. But, this time around, Devendra Fadnavis has staged a comeback as the chief minister of Maharashtra.

Earlier at a BJPLP meeting held at the Central Hall of Vidhan Bhavan on Thursday morning, senior party leaders Chandrakant Patil and Sudhir Mungantiwar proposed the name of Fadnavis as the Legislature Party leader, Pankaja Munde and Pravin Darekar seconded his name. After that, BJP’s central observer Vijay Rupani declared that Fadnavis had been elected unopposed as the BJPLP leader.

Congratulating Fadnavis on his election as the BJPLP leader, Union Finance Minister and party’s central observer Nirmala Sitharaman said: “The 14 crore people of Maharashtra have given us a mandate for `Vikasit Bharat’. The double engine government under PM Narendra Modi’s guidance will drive Maharashtra to new heights of growth with full fervour and strength. The promises made in the manifesto will be fulfilled.”

Later in the afternoon, Fadnavis, accompanied by Eknath Shinde of the Shiv Sena (ES) and Ajit Pawar of the NCP (AP), drove to Raj Bhavan and called on the Governor. Together, the three MahaYuti leaders staked a claim to form a new government in the state.

The BJP, which has emerged as the single largest in the recent Assembly polls with 132 out of total 288 seats, staking claim to form a new government. Eknath Shinde of the Shiv Sena ( with 57 MLAs) , Ajit Pawar of the NCP-AP ( with 41 MLAs) and some Independent MLAs gave letters of support in Fadnavis’ name. Satisfied with the claim, the Governor invited Fadnavis, Shinde and Ajit Pawar for the swearing-in ceremony scheduled for Thursday.

Earlier, speaking at the BJPLP meeting after his election as its leader, Fadnavis thanked the party’s newly elected MLAs for electing him as the BJPLP leader unanimously. “You people have elected me unopposed. With this, my responsibility has increased”

“The outcome in the recent election was historic. The verdict has proved our slogan “Ek hain tho safe hain”. After the Lok Sabha polls, it has once again been proved `Modi hain toh mumkin hai’”... I would like to bow before the people of the state for giving us a landslide victory in the polls. I would also like to thank MahaYuti leaders Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar on this occasion”.

Fadnavis thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making asan ordinary party worker like him as the chief minister of the state for the third time “We have not come into politics for big posts. Let’s work for the larger interests of the people. Certain things may go in our favour, while certain other things may go against us. That being the case, let’s work together in the larger interests of the people,” he said.