MAHA DAY TODAY Live Updates: Uddhav Thackeray swears in as 29th Chief Minister of Maharashtra

Mumbai : Elaborate security arrangements are being made at and around Shivaji Park in Dadar in central Mumbai where Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) nominee Uddhav Thackeray will take oath as Chief Minister on Thursday evening, a police official said on Wednesday.

Thackeray, who heads Shiv Sena, will be sworn in as the 18th chief minister of the state in a grand ceremony at the venue which hosts annual Dasara rallies of his party. Thursday's swearing-in ceremony will be different from the previous occasions in Maharashtra politics given that Uddhav is the first Thackeray from his clan who is taking oath as a public representative and that too is the CM.

Additionally, he is also the leader of the MVA comprising leaders of the NCP and the Congress, the new allies of the Sena. Shivsainiks are emotionally connected to Shivaji Park where party founder the late Bal Thackeray used to address Dasara rallies, a tradition that is still kept alive by his son, Uddhav. Bal Thackeray was cremated in a corner of the Shivaji Park, which Sainiks rever as "Shivteerth"--a holy place.

National leaders cutting across party lines are being invited for the oath-taking ceremony. Senior police officers, including joint commissioner of police (law and order) Vinoy Choube, reviewed the security preparations at the venue on Wednesday, the official said.