In January 2003, Sushilkumar Shinde was sworn in as Chief Minister of Maharashtra, on resignation of his predecessor Vilasrao Deshmukh. Shinde led a cabinet consisting of his Congress party and alliance partner NCP, till the 2004 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election. The Congress-NCP alliance secured a majority in those elections, but the Shinde ministry was replaced by his Deshmukh's second ministry.