Case of Missing Dy CM: As Maha Crisis Continues, Fadnavis Gets Down to Work. But No Sign of Ajit Pawar

New Delhi: After taking oath for a second term as the Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis took charge on Monday amid the controversy over the circumstances around which he was reinstated to the seat.

The first thing that Fadnavis did after returning to the state secretariat building in south Mumbai, Mantralaya, was to sign a cheque for the Chief Minister's Relief Fund. "CM Devendra Fadnavis' first signature of this tenure was done on a #CMReliefFund cheque, on reaching Mantralaya, which was handed over to Kusum Vengurlekar by CM," the Chief Minister's Office tweeted.

Meanwhile, there was no sign of Ajit Pawar, the Nationalist Congress Party leader who was sworn-in as the deputy chief Minister much to the surprise of his uncle Sharad Pawar. He is said to have remained in his residence in Mumbai's Church Gate. Ajit Pawar also missed a meeting chaired by CM Devendra Fadnavis on ‘Climate Resilience Improvement and flood & drought Management Program’ with representatives from the World Bank.

The outrage by leaders of the NCP, Shiv Sena, and Congress parties, who had cemented plans to ally in the state, had culminated in a Supreme Court petition. On Monday, the apex court held off its decision in the matter till Tuesday, even as the Centre maintained that BJP had the support of all 4 NCP MLAs to form a government.

The Centre had contended that Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari had invited Fadnavis to form the government in Maharashtra based on letters of support by 170 MLAs.