6 ex Maharashtra CMs attend Uddhav Thackeray's oath taking ceremony

Mumbai, Nov 28: Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray's swearing-in ceremony as Maharashtra chief minister saw six of his predecessors from the state gracing the event held at the Shivaji Park here on Thursday evening. NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi, Congress leaders Sushilkumar Shinde, Ashok Chavan and Prithviraj Chavan and BJP's Devendra Fadnavis are the six former CMs who headed the state at different times and were present at the mega event.

Thackeray succeeded Fadnavis (2014-2019). Pawar has headed the state four times, while Ashok Chavan and Fadnavis became chief ministers twice. Joshi, Shinde, Prithviraj Chavan and Fadnavis held the post once.

Interestingly, among all the six former CMs, only Fadnavis, the first BJP leader to hold the top post in the state, completed full five-year term. Thackeray became the state's 18th chief minister and 29th term wise.

He is also the first chief minister from the Thackeray clan. The Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress formed the government after the Thackeray-led party fell out with pre-poll ally BJP over sharing the chief ministerial post.

The Assembly election was held on October 21 and its result was declared on October 24. The BJP emerged as the single largest party winning 105 seats.

The Sena, the NCP and the Congress won 56, 54 and 44 seats, respectively, in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly.