New Maharashtra govt to be sworn in on Dec 5

PM Modi to attend swearing-in at 5 pm at Azad Maidan

- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

The new Mahayuiti government in Maharashtra will be sworn in at Azad Maidan here on the evening of December 5 in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's presence, the state BJP announced on Saturday.

While there was no announcement yet on who would be the chief minister, BJP sources said Devendra Fadnavis, who has been chief minister twice and was deputy CM in the last Eknath Shinde-led government, was the frontrunner for the top post.

Shinde, who is holding the charge as caretaker chief minister and who headed to his native village Dare in Satara district a day before amid speculation that he was not happy with the way the new government was shaping up, has taken ill, an aide said. He was running a temperature of 105, the aide said.

The swearing-in ceremony will take place at 5 pm at the Azad Maidan ground in south Mumbai, said state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule in a post on X. PM Modi will attend the ceremony, he added.