On Thursday, July 7, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde took charge of his post at the state secretariat Mantralaya in south Mumbai.
Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis too was present on the occasion. As were members of the chief minister's family:
IMAGE: Chief Minister Shinde flanked by his wife Lata and Deputy CM Fadnavis.
To Shinde's right are Dr Shrikant Shinde (pointing), his son and the Shiv Sena MP from Kalyan, and his father Shambhaji Shinde, partly hidden.
Behind Fadnavis are Dr Shinde's wife Vrushali holding the CM's grandson Rudransh, and other Shinde relatives. All Photographs: Sahil Salvi
IMAGE: Shinde shakes hands with the 'jadugar' who made his appointment possible -- Devendra Gangadharrao Fadnavis -- as his son and daughter-in-law look on.
IMAGE: A meeting with the state's top bureaucrats, setting out a plan of action.
IMAGE: When he plied an autorickshaw in Thane in the late 1980s did Eknath Shambhaji Shinde ever dream that he would one day be chief minister of one of the wealthiest states in the Indian Union?
IMAGE: A bouquet for Fadnavis, who now joins a group of former Maharashtra chief ministers like Shankarrao Chavan, Shivajirao Patil-Nilangekar and Ashok Chavan who later served as ministers in another CM's cabinet.
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/ Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com