Devendra Fadnavis overtakes Sharad Pawar as Maharashtra’s third longest-serving CM

Mumbai: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has overtaken Sharad Pawar to become Maharashtra's third longest-serving chief minister.

A three-time chief minister, Fadnavis (55) has served as chief minister for 2,430 days, surpassing Sharad Pawar's 2,412 days in the post. While Pawar has been omnipresent in Maharashtra politics for several decades and has served as CM four times, he never completed a full five-year term. The state's longest-serving CM is Congress leader Vasantrao Naik, who held the post for a record 4,096 days across three terms. He is followed by another Congress leader, Vilasrao Deshmukh, who served for 2,686 days.

No other non-Congress leader in Maharashtra has remained in power as long as Fadnavis.


In 2014, Fadnavis became the state's second youngest CM at the age of 44 when he was sworn in to head the first BJP-led government in Maharashtra. He completed a full five-year term from October 31, 2014, to November 12, 2019. Following the 2019 Assembly polls, the BJP, under his leadership, was poised to return to power in alliance with the Shiv Sena. However, the Sena broke ties with the BJP and instead formed a government with the Congress and the NCP.