Why Devendra Fadnavis' name on Maharashtra oath ceremony invite has caught people's attention

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis is all set to become Maharashtra chief minister for a third time after he was unanimously chosen as the legislative party leader in a crucial BJP meeting today.

Preparations are in full swing for the oath-taking ceremony scheduled to be held at the Azad Maidan in Mumbai on Thursday, December 5. Amid this, a picture of the invitation card for the swearing-in event has surfaced on social media, which has caught everyone’s attention.

The invite, issued by chief secretary Sujata Saunik, refers to him as “Devendra Sarita Gangadharrao Fadnavis”. While Gangadhar is the name of his father, Sarita is his mother. Notably, this is the first time he has used his mother’s name for an official purpose.

While it's customary for Maharashtra residents to use their father's name as a middle name, Fadnavis has broken tradition by using his mother's name for an official purpose. He used only “Gangadhar” as his middle name in the invites for the oath-taking ceremonies held in 2014 and 2019 as well as in his affidavit for the November 20 Assembly polls.

Fadnavis' name was finalised for the top post at the state BJP's core committee meet held in Mumbai ahead of the legislature party meeting. Following this, Fadnavis, Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, and Nationalist Congress Party’s Ajit Pawar, met Governor CP Radhakrishnan at Mumbai’s Raj Bhavan on Wednesday afternoon to stake claim to form the government.

"We met the Governor and gave him letters of support of BJP, Shiv Sena, NCP and other Mahayuti alliance partners. I want to thank CM Eknath Shinde, who as Shiv Sena chief, recommended my name as the chief minister. Along with that, NCP chief Ajit Pawar has also given a similar letter of support. The Governor has invited us to form government. The swearing-in ceremony will take place at 5:30 pm on Dec 5, in presence of PM Modi at Azad Maidan in Mumbai,” Fadnavis said in a press briefing later.

The BJP achieved remarkable success in the November 20 Maharashtra elections, securing 132 out of the 288 assembly seats in the state, marking its best performance in the state so far.

Together with its allies -- the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar's NCP, the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition has a commanding majority of 230 seats.