Shiv Sena Chief Eknath Shinde was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra along with Ajit Pawar. After the ceremony he said, "Devendra Fadnavis has taken oath as CM in a historic swearing-in ceremony. I congratulate him. Maharashtra is a state that gives ideological direction to the country and I, who comes from a simple farmer family, got the opportunity to become the CM of such a state...PM Narendra Modi also supported us completely, gave us full strength. Union HM Amit Shah also stood behind us with full strength...And that is why we could do so much work in 2.5 years. We have taken so many historic decisions. This will be written in golden letters. I had said that in this election, we will see the result of the 2.5 year tenure of the government, we will get the blessings of the people. I am also happy that when we started, 2.5 years ago, 40 people were with us, today 60 people are there. Earlier I used to consider myself as a common man, not a Chief Minister, now as DCM, I consider myself dedicated common man... I will fully support the CM and cooperate with him..."