New Coalition Government Takes Office in India’s Richest State

(Bloomberg) -- A new political alliance has taken the oath of office in the western Indian state of Maharashtra after days of political upheaval and the ousting of a short-lived government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.

Uddhav Thackeray, the leader of the rightwing Shiv Sena, was sworn in as chief minister on Thursday evening. His party has the support of Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress party. The parties together claim they have the support of 162 lawmakers in the 288-member assembly.

The latest development in India’s wealthiest state is a setback for Modi’s party and its ambitions to govern all of India’s states. The BJP was the single largest party after the polls in October but fell short of a clear majority. Its pre-poll alliance with the Shiv Sena fell apart due to differences over power sharing.

Since then, the race to form a government has taken all sorts of twists and turns with unexpected alliances, infighting, a hurried swearing-in, and a Sunday hearing in the top court.

Last week the Nationalist Congress Party, the Shiv Sena and the Congress party had announced a plan to form a coalition government. The plan was thwarted overnight with BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis being sworn in as chief minister and Ajit Pawar, a senior leader of the Nationalist Congress Party, as deputy chief minister in a rushed ceremony early Saturday.

But the BJP-led coalition fell apart quickly forcing Fadnavis to resign on Tuesday.

The political uncertainty in the state, however, may not be over yet even as the new alliance is sworn-in. It’s an unlikely partnership of the Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena and the more centrist Congress and NCP, who have the support of India’s minority groups.

Maharashtra is India’s richest state and its capital Mumbai, a city of 18 million people, is home to companies such as Reliance Industries Ltd. and Tata Group, India’s two main stock markets and the country’s film industry.

To contact the reporter on this story: Muneeza Naqvi in New Delhi at mnaqvi6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, Abhay Singh, Tuhin Kar

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