Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde will expand his 40-day-old cabinet tomorrow around 11 am at Raj Bhavan as the Monsoon Session of the state assembly will begin from August 10, according to the order issued in this regard. Former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis likely to get the home portfolio, sources have said.
Shinde and Fadnavis, who have been functioning as a two-member cabinet, were in Delhi over the weekend and attended a NITI Aayog meeting along with 22 other chief ministers.
According to sources, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Chandrakant Patil, Girish Mahajan, Sudhir Mungantiwar from the BJP, and Uday Samant, Dada Bhuse, Sandeepan Bhumre, Sanjay Shirsat and Gulabrao Patil from the Shinde group will likely to be inducted into the Cabinet.
Shinde, who reached Nanded today for an official tour, told reporters, “Names have not yet been finalised. (They) Will be finalised later tonight or by tomorrow morning.”
Senior BJP leaders assembled at the Mumbai residence of Fadnavis on Monday evening to discuss the names of the probables to be inducted into the state cabinet. Besides finalising the names of new ministers who will take the oath at Raj Bhavan, the BJP leaders are learnt to have discussed the organisational appointments to be made ahead of crucial civic elections in Mumbai and other cities and the 2024 Lok Saba elections.
A dozen ministers will take oath at Tuesday’s ceremony at Raj Bhavan in south Mumbai at 11 am, an aide of Shinde had told PTI on condition of anonymity. The next round of expansion would take place later, he added.
Shinde and Fadnavis were sworn in as chief minister and deputy chief minister, respectively, on June 30 after Uddhav Thackeray resigned due to a rebellion in the Shiv Sena.
Meanwhile, CT Ravi, who is the BJP’s in-charge of Maharashtra affairs, held a closed-door meeting with Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. Sources told CNN-News18 the meeting lasted for around 30-45 minutes.
“Cabinet expansion is the responsibility of CM and deputy CM, they will do it…’Sabka sath, sabka vikas, sabka prayas and sabka vishwas’ is our agenda. Under PM Modi’s guidance, ee will run Maharashtra under this (agenda),” Ravi told reporters after the meeting.
On Saturday, CM Shinde said the functioning of the Maharashtra government has not been affected in any way due to the delay in the expansion of the council of ministers and that more ministers will be inducted soon.
“The work of the government has not been affected in any way. The decision-making process has not been affected. I and the deputy chief minister have been taking decisions and there is no impact on the working of the government,” the CM said in New Delhi. Fadnavis said the BJP has embarked on a mission to improve its footprint in Maharashtra in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by identifying 16 parliamentary constituencies where opposition parties have had a consistent winning streak.
Top sources in the BJP said one of the reasons for the delay in expansion is the aspirations of the Eknath Shinde group. While cabinet berths to those Shiv Sena MLAs who were sitting ministers is decided, there are others who are eyeing some posts and the strategy being adopted to deal with this section is ‘Thanda Kariye’ — cooling down their aspirations — as a delaying tactic.
Sources within the Shinde camp said there is a broad understanding that those who walked out as ministers will get cabinet berths. There are 40 Sena MLAs and 10 independents who had left Uddhav’s cabinet. It is expected that the Shinde group will get 14-15 berths in the first cabinet expansion.
(With inputs from PTI)
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