Devendra Fadnavis
Devendra Fadnavis getting sworn-in as Maharashtra CMTwitter

4.55 pm: The oath-taking ceremony has concluded.

4.27 pm: Devendra Fadnavis takes oath as BJP's first chief minister in Maharashtra.

BJP leaders Sudhir Mungantiwar, Eknath Khadse, Vinod Tawde and Pankaja Munde have also taken oath to join the government.


Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray has reached Wankhede Stadium.

 

4.15 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived at Wankhede Stadium for the oath-taking ceremony. Devendra Fadnavis is all set to take oath as the Bharatiya Janata Party's first chief minister in Maharashtra.

4.05 pm: Top businessmen such as Ratan Tata and Mukesh Ambani as well as Bollywood celebrities including Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan have been invited for the grand ceremony.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, NCP leader Praful Patel and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan are present.

The glitz at the event, expenditure for which is said to have shot well above ₹1 crore, seems to be contrary to the BJP government's austerity drive announced on Thursday.

3.50 pm: After much drama, all Shiv Sena members, including party chief Uddhav Thackeray, will attend the swearing-in ceremony of the BJP minority government.
The event has already begun at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium with cultural programs.

3.05 pm: Ending speculations on whether Shiv Sena and BJP will come together for the swearing-in on Friday, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has reportedly accepted BJP president Amit Shah's invite to attend the function, which will be held at the Wankhede stadium in a couple of hours. 

Earlier, Shiv Sena had called for a boycott of the event after a snub by the BJP, which has kept Sena members out of the swearing-in. 

2.47 pm: BJP president Amit Shah has extended an invite to Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray for the swearing-in ceremony of the new government in Maharashtra at Wankhede Stadium on Friday, as per reports. BJP's CM-elect Devendra Fadnavis had also invited the Sena chief. According to reports, Thackeray may consider accepting the invite, after he had reportedly called for the party to boycott the event.

Devendra Fadnavis is all set to take oath as the Bharatiya Janata Party's first chief minister in Maharashtra on Friday, as the minority government with only a few ministers from the party will be sworn-in at a grand ceremony in Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium.
The oath-taking ceremony is set to begin at 4.30 pm today, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be present to witness the historic moment for the party in the state.
BJP president Amit Shah and former deputy prime minister LK Advani are also likely to be present.
However, Shiv Sena, BJP's former ally, will skip the event. While the Sena wished to have its members to be part of the oath-taking ceremony, the BJP snubbed the party by claiming that only its party MLAs will take oath on Friday.
The Sena has thus called for a complete boycott of the event. In a front-page statement in the party mouthpiece, Saamana, the party said that no legislator, parliamentarian or other officials shall take part in the oath taking ceremony, reported IANS.
Ahead of the ceremony, Fadnavis will give a list of ministers who will be sworn in today to Governor C Vidyasagar Rao at the Raj Bhawan. Some of the ministers who are likely to take oath today are Eknath Khadse, Pankaja Munde and Vinod Tawde among others.
The Ceremony:
The swearing-in ceremony is set to be a grand affair in keeping with the party's historic win in the elections. Ahead of the event, the party members will place 25 giant lotuses off Marine Drive in Mumbai.
The event will see it all – music performances, victorious speeches screened on giant LED sets, and a grand set-up on the theme of Shivaji Maharaj, the Maratha leader.
Bollywood art director Nitin Desai has reportedly been roped in to oversee the production design.
The total cost for organising the event is said to have crossed ₹1 crore.
More than 30,000 people are expected to pack the iconic Wankhede Stadium, the very venue where the Indian cricket team won the world cup in 2011. Among the VIPs, Bollywood celebrities Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan are likely to be present, while industrialists Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani and Ratan Tata are also likely to attend.