With Uddhav Thackeray to take oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister today, the Maharashtra Vikas Aaghadi (MVA) government, led by him, is likely to announce a loan waiver for farmers once the new Cabinet starts functioning.

The new alliance, comprising the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress, has invited about 400 farmers, besides family members of farmers who have committed suicide, to attend the oath-taking ceremony at Shivaji Park in Mumbai.

Shiv Sena MLA and Uddhav’s son, Aditya Thackeray, speaking to reporters in Mumbai, said that the new government will take all efforts to help farmers and ensure a drought-free Maharashtra.

While the Congress and the NCP had promised a complete loan waiver if elected to power, Uddhav Thackeray had said that his party wanted to make farmers ‘loan-free’ rather than giving them a loan waiver.

The Sena had also promised an ‘aid’ of ₹10,000 to all farmers in Maharashtra.

Grand ceremony

The MVA has planned a grand oath-taking ceremony. Sources said the Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and non-BJP Chief Ministers, including Mamata Banerjee, have been invited. Sena leaders said that Uddhav’s estranged cousin, Raj Thackeray, has also been invited.

Meanwhile, a special session of the Maharashtra Assembly Pro-tem Speaker Kalidas Kolambkar administered the oath to 288 legislators.

Alliance leaders were in a huddle till late evening to decide on the distribution of Cabinet berths and the candidate for the post of Speaker of the State Assembly.

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