Devendra Fadnavis's swearing-in ceremony, the biggest ever of its kind

Devendra Fadnavis, the chief minister-designate of Maharashtra, will be sworn in at the Wankhede stadium on Friday. The event will be choreographed by well known Bollywood art director, Nitin Desai. [caption id=“attachment_1780505” align=“alignleft” width=“380” class=" “]  Devendra Fadnavis. AFP[/caption] Desai created sets for several Bollywood blockbusters including Jodha Akbar, Lagaan and Devdas. The stage is said to have a grand but tasteful depiction of Maharashtra’s culture and traditions. Even the gates will be designed depicting motifs from the state’s rich culture and history. Desai plans to tell stories of state leaders, such as, Shivaji and other Maratha warriors using hi-tech props. Desai told Economic Times, that the audience will be taken through the 350-years of Maharashtra’s virtuous history. Speaking to ET, Desai said that Fadnavis wanted the swearing-in to be dedicated to the people of Maharashtra. After Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves the venue, Fadnavis and members of the cabinet will go around the stadium accepting greetings of what is expected to be a gathering of more than 30,000, an article in the DNA said. According to the ET report, special musical programmes related to maratha folk tradition will be played at the start and end slots of the event. Before the ceremony, renowned Marathi artist Ashok Hande (of Marathi Bana) will perform. For the first time, a chief minister will be sworn-in at a cricket stadium. In 1995, when BJP came to power with Shiv Sena as an ally, the swearing-in took place at Shivaji Park, a report in Zee News said. The source of the money being spent on this lavish event is unknown. As of now, BJP has not revealed any sponsors for the event. According to a report by Midday, BJP’s lavish plans will be sponsored by the Maharashtra government’s treasury, which is already known to be broke.  As per the general norms, apart from the the Governor and the CM-designate no one else occupies centre stage. A protocol department official told Midday,  “This is the first time that the state is witnessing such a grand ceremony that will have thousands of people attending,”.  He also said that the department was upset that some of what will take place during the swearing-in ceremony would bypass protocol. Probably the only other ceremony that comes to the mind is that of Narendra Modi when he was sworn-in as the Prime Minister of India on 26 May this year. The swearing-in ceremony was held at the forecourts of the Rashtrapati Bhavan which has been previously used for swearing-in of only two other Prime Ministers — Chandra Shekhar (1990, Samajwadi Janata Party) and Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1996 and 1998, BJP). The ceremony was noted by media for being the first ever swearing-in of an Indian Prime Minister to have been attended by the heads of all SAARC countries. The overall cost for the ceremony to the exchequer was estimated at around Rs 17.6 lakh. On the other hand, many other huge political victories were not rewarded with a lavish after-party. They were followed by down-to-earth oath-taking ceremonies. Mamata Banerjee, the first woman chief minister of West Bengal, took oath in a small auditorium with important government officials. In 2011, Banerjee pulled off a landslide victory for the Trinamool Congress alliance in Bengal. She won after defeating the 34-year-old CPI(M)-led Left Front government in the state. Another win which made headlines was that of the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa. Her party AIADMK, had won with an unprecedented victory - 37 out of 39 seats - and came up to the third largest all India party status. Even after such a memorable victory, Jayalalithaa’s swearing-in event was within four walls of an auditorium and was attended by her party members and her alliances. The only other swearing-in which had attendees more than a few hundreds is that former CM of Delhi and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal. His win was marked by a big ceremony in the Ramlila maidan but the event was hardly as lavish as the one Fadnavis plans for “the people of Maharashtra”. After BJP’s victory in the Maharashtra assembly election, the party had made it clear that the swearing-in ceremony of the new chief minister will be lavish and this is clearly one of its kind. It will also be probably the first of its kind.