Prithviraj Chavan will be sworn-in today as Maharashtra CM

Mumbai : Maharashtra’s new Chief Minister-designate Prithviraj Chavan and his deputy Ajit Pawar will be sworn in here Thursday.

Chavan met Governor K. Sankaranarayanan in Raj Bhavan late Wednesday and said that he has the support of 170 MLAs and staked claim to form the new government.

Chavan reached Raj Bhavan at around 10 p.m. while Pawar arrived 40 minutes later. They handed over their letters of support to the Governor and asked for the permission to from the next Democratic Front government. Pawar is the nephew of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar.

After meeting the governor, Chavan said: “Today we met the governor and we have submitted letter of support from 170 MLAs. He has named me as the new Maharashtra chief minister and Ajit Pawar as the new deputy chief minister.?

The swearing-in ceremony is likely to be held here around 4.30 p.m.

Chavan replaced Ashok Chavan, who resigned after Congress leadership asked him to quit following allegations of his links with Mumbai’s Adarsh housing society scam.