Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said it was the prerogative of the governor to invite a party to form a government.

The comments came after BJP's Devendra Fadnavis and NCPleader Ajit Pawar took oath as the Maharashtra chief minister and deputy chief minister respectively on Saturday. The unexpected development took place a day after Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray emerged as the Sena-NCP-Congress'candidate for the top post.

"At this point of time in this programme, I do not wishto make any political statement. It was the prerogative of the governor,"Mr Singh said at an event in Lucknow.

"The governor invited the person (to form the government) after he was satisfied."

At the event, Mr Singh paid tributes to ex-servicemen and their families in Lucknow and said the country is proud of them.Addressing the gathering at the AMC Stadium, he said, "We are proud of the jawans and equally proud of our ex-servicemen. I know that even today, there are manyex-servicemen, who if the need arises, can discharge their duty with the same level of confidence. I am assured of this," he said.The defence minister visited various stalls set up at the stadium and also interacted with former servicemen and their widows.He said Uttar Pradesh was the birthplace of war heroes and brave hearts like Abdul Hameed and Manoj Pandey.

"It is a matter of pride for us. The entire nation will remain indebted to the Army jawans who laid down their lives in defence of thecountry. We cannot free ourselves from this debt by extending any amount of facilities their families."