The entire nation was in for a big surprise on Saturday morning when the BJP in a surprising move outplayed their rivals and took back the reign of Maharashtra. The early morning swearing-in of Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister with the support of NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar who swore in as deputy chief minister hit rivals out of nowhere.

The development also produced varying reactions from across the political circles of the country ranging from surprise to admiration. Here is a look at them.

One of the first reactions came from Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi who lamented the time taken by his party to seal the deal. The reaction that came an hour after the swearing-in also took a sarcastic dig at NCP supremo Sharad Pawar.

Surreal wht I read abt #Maharashtra. Thought it was fake news. Candidly &personally speaking, our tripartite negotiations shd not have gone on for more than 3 days...took too long. Window given was grabbed by fast movers. #pawarji tussi grt ho! Amazing if true, still not sure

— Abhishek Singhvi (@DrAMSinghvi) November 23, 2019

On the contrary, leaders belonging to BJP and NDA alliance were quick to congratulate Fadnavis and Pawar. “Congratulations to @Dev_Fadnavis Ji and @AjitPawarSpeaks Ji on taking oath as the CM and Deputy CM of Maharashtra respectively. I am confident they will work diligently for the bright future of Maharashtra,” the prime minister tweeted.

Congratulations to @Dev_Fadnavis Ji and @AjitPawarSpeaks Ji on taking oath as the CM and Deputy CM of Maharashtra respectively. I am confident they will work diligently for the bright future of Maharashtra.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 23, 2019

Other prominent BJP leaders ranging from home minister Amit Shah and BJP President JP Nadda to General Secretary Bhupender Yadav too tweeted congratulatory messages in support of the new alliance.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman too tweeted in support of the move and stated she had full support on Fadnavis. “Congratulations Shri @Dev_Fadnavis on taking oath as the CM of Maharashtra. I am confident that with your commitment and dedication you will continue to serve the people. Congratulations @AjitPawarSpeaks on taking oath as Deputy CM of Maharashtra,” she tweeted.

श्री @Dev_Fadnavis जी को महाराष्ट्र के मुख्यमंत्री और श्री @AjitPawarSpeaks को प्रदेश के उपमुख्यमंत्री के रूप में शपथ लेने पर हार्दिक बधाई।

मुझे विश्वास है कि यह सरकार महाराष्ट्र के विकास और कल्याण के प्रति निरंतर कटिबद्ध रहेगी और प्रदेश में प्रगति के नये मापदंड स्थापित करेगी।— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) November 23, 2019

Bihar deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi, on the other hand, came down heavily against former allies Shiv Sena and compaqred it with local rivals RJD. “Congratulations @Dev_Fadnavis. Sharad Pawar like Nitish Kumar knew that BJP is more reliable then Congress. Shiv Sena was like RJD. Very difficult to work with a party like SSor RJD full of lumpens,” he tweeted.

Ajit Pawar's decision to support the BJP to form the Maharashtra Government is his personal decision and not that of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).We place on record that we do not support or endorse this decision of his.

— Sharad Pawar (@PawarSpeaks) November 23, 2019

NCP supremo too used twitter to clear speculations surrounding him and asserted that he was still behind Uddhav Thackrey. “Ajit Pawar's decision to support the BJP to form the Maharashtra Government is his personal decision and not that of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). We place on record that we do not support or endorse this decision of his,” his tweet read.