Maharashtra: Fadnavis and team all set for swearing-in

Chief minister-elect Devendra Fadnavis is a four-time MLA from Nagpur and the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president. A law and business management graduate, Fadnavis has close connections with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Despite opposition from within the party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah picked him for the top job because of his clean image and extraordinary performance as a legislator in the past 15 years. He has promised good governance, transparency and overall development of the state.

Who may take oath today
Devendra Fadnavis as the chief ministers

The ministers
From Mumbai: Vinod Tawde
Probables: Prakash Mehta, Ashish Shelar and Raj Purohit

Vidarbha: Sudhir Mungantiwar
Probables: Pandhurang Phundkar, Chainsukh Sancheti, Sanjay Kute, Chandrashekhar Bawankule

North Maharashtra: Eknath Khadse
Probables: Girsh Mahajan, Jaykumar Rawal

Western Maharashtra: (probable) Suresh Khade, Girish Bapat, Dilip Kamble, Chandrakant Patil, Madhuri Misal, Bala Bhegde

Konkan and Thane: Vishnu Savra, Sanjay Kelkar

Central Maharashtra: Pankaja Munde
Probables: Haribhau Bagade, Sudhakar Bhalerao

The new CM’s schedule
8am: Devendra Fadnavis will flag off the run for unity near Hotel Trident. Governor C Vidyasagar Rao will be the chief guest

10am: Fadnavis, along with Rao, will garland the statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on the occasion of his birth anniversary, at NSCI, Worli

Noon: Fadnavis will submit a list of the ministers to be sworn in to Rao at the Raj Bhavan

4.30pm: The oath-taking ceremony will start. It will last for about 35 minutes. According to the protocol, no cultural, musical programme or speeches will be held when governor Rao is on the stage

5.30pm: After the swearing-in, Fadnavis and the ministers will garland the statues of the Chhatrapati Shivaji and Jijabai at Mantralaya. Fadnavis and his team will go around the stadium in a chariot or a battery car, to express gratitude towards the people of the state after the swearing in. The cabinet will then meet on the seventh floor of the Mantralaya

6.30pm: Fadnavis will brief the media at the committee hall of the Mantralaya and announce the decisions taken by the cabinet.
Late evening: A meeting to decide on the portfolios will be held.

Centre stage
Of the 5,000 VIPs who will be accommodated in front of the stage, 1,200 are statutory dignitaries, including MLAs, MLCs, MPs, consulate generals from various countries, and judges, among others The union ministers and the chief ministers will be accommodated on one of the three podiums with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will be the chief guest.

BJP president Amit Shah and former deputy prime minister LK Advani will share the stage with Modi. Religious gurus, too, will share the stage with the ministers who will be sworn in on Friday Around 28,000 other invitees will be seated in the galleries of the stadium

Entertainment quotient
Musician Ashok Hande will perform for an hour before the swearing-in ceremony, as the invitees have been asked to reach the venue at least two hours before the event begins

It's the lotus all the way
The BJP plans to place 25 lotuses in the fishing boats off the Marine Drive.

The concept is based on former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee’s speech in the city in 1980, where he said one day, he would like to see the lotus blooming in the field of politics.

Money matters
The cost of the ceremony organised by the general administration department of the government and the Bhartiya Janata Party is well over Rs. 1 crore.

According to sources in the GAD, the government will bear the cost of the stage, seating arrangement, sound system, among others.

The cost of the set, LCD on the stage, snacks provided to the invitees, cost towards the decoration of the stage will be borne by the party.

When the ceremony is held at the Raj Bhavan, the cost borne by the government is around Rs. 25 lakh.

The management
The BJP had assigned their leaders the responsibility of inviting dignitaries from 21 categories such as corporate, Hindi films, theatre, religious gurus, politicians from other states, music industry, Marathi film industry, among others.

Team of five BJP leaders led by Kirit Somaiya got dignitaries from the corporate world, while spokesperson Shaina NC handled the coordination for Hindi film actors.

Union ministers who will be present
• Home minister Rajnath Singh
• Transport minister Nitin Gadkari
• Minister of state for power Piyush Goyal
• Chemical and fertilizers minister Anant Kumar
• Communication and information technology minister Ravishankar Prasad
• Heavy industries minister Anant Geete

Chief ministers
• Vasundhara Raje (Rajasthan)
• Parkash Singh Badal (Punjab)
• Manohar Parrikar (Goa)
• Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh)
• Shivaraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh)

Industrialists who will be present
• Gautam Adani
• Kumar Mangalam Birla
• Rajshri Birla
• Niranjan Hiranandani
• BK Goenka

Sportspersons who will make it to the event
• Former cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar
• Hockey player Dhanraj Pillai

Who can’t make it
Actors Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, who have been invited for the ceremony , will not be able to attend the function as they are out of town.

Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, too, will not attend the ceremony because of his pre-scheduled programme.