Devendra Fadnavis 5th former Maharashtra CM to accept junior position. Who are the other four

BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday became the fifth Maharashtra politician to accept a junior position in the state government after having served as chief minister. In a surprising turn of events, Fadnavis announced rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde's name as the next chief minister of Maharashtra, saying he would stay out of the government, but was later sworn in as deputy chief minister. It was said that Fadnavis accepted the position on request of party's central leadership.

Union home minister Amit Shah said in a tweet that Fadnavis decided to join the government on the advice of BJP chief JP Nadda.

“This decision is a sign of his true loyalty and service towards Maharashtra. For this I heartily congratulate him,” he added.

Fadnavis, who served as Maharashtra CM from 2014 to 2019 and became chief minister for a brief period after 2019 assembly elections, took oath as Shinde's deputy on Thursday night.

While a former chief minister later accepting a junior position in the state government is rare, Maharashtra has witnessed several such situation in the past.

Here are the four former Maharashtra CMs who took a junior role in state government:

Shankarrao Chavan: Congress leader Shankarrao Chavan became Maharashtra chief minister in 1975, before being replaced by Vasantdada Patil in 1977. A year later, Sharad Pawar, who was a minister in Patil cabinet, brought down the government and became chief minister. Chavan became finance minister in the Progressive Democratic Front government led by Pawar.

Shivajirao Patil Nilangekar: He served as the chief minister of Maharashtra from June 1985 to March 1986. Years later, he became revenue minister in the Sushilkumar Shinde government.

Narayan Rane: Then with the Shiv Sena, Rane became Maharashtra chief minister in 1999 and served for less than a year. Later, after he had left the Sena to join the Congress, he became revenue minister in the Vilasrao Deshmukh-led government.

Ashok Chavan: The Congress leader was Maharashtra chief minister between 2008 and 2010. Later, in 2019, he became the PWD minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government.