Uddhav Thackeray sworn in as Maharashtra CM

Mumbai: Shiv Sena President Uddhav B. Thackeray was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra at a grand function held at the Shivaji Park here on Thursday.

Governor B.S. Koshyari administered the oath of office and secrecy to Uddhav Thackery at 6.40 p.m. with the Sena chief sporting striking saffron-coloured kurta-pyjama, his party's colour.

In an unusual gesture of humility, soon after completing the formalities, Thackeray stepped to the front of the stage and knelt down, touching the floor with his hands and head to express his gratitude to the people of Maharashtra for the honour bestowed on him.

Besides, two legislators each from the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress, the key constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), took oath as ministers.

They are Shiv Sena's Eknath Shinde and Subhash Desai, NCP's Jayant Patil and Chhagan Bhujbal, and Congress' Balasaheb Thorat and Nitin Raut.

Among the prominent dignitaries present on the occasion were more than 500 farmers and farm widows from all over Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackery's cousin and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena President Raj Thackeray, industrialist Mukesh Ambani, his wife Nita Ambani and their family members.

Also present were at least three Chief Ministers from other states and six former Maharashtra Chief Ministers, including Sharad Pawar, Sushilkumar Shinde, Manohar Joshi, Prithviraj Chavan, Ashok Chavan and Devendra Fadnavis.

Other prominent personalities from all the three parties included Abhishek M. Singhvi, Rajiv Shukla, Praful Patel, Kishore Tiwari, Supriya Sule-Pawar, Sanjay Raut, Arvind Sawant, Rohit Pawar, and Rashmi Thackeray and Aditya Thackeray, the wife and son of Uddhav Thackeray.