Maharashtra: CM Fadnavis Expands Cabinet with 39 New Ministers

Nagpur, Dec 15 (NationPress) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has officially expanded his Cabinet by inducting 39 ministers from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena, and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) during a straightforward ceremony held in the city.

The oath of office and secrecy was administered by Maharashtra Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan to the newly appointed ministers, comprising 19 from the BJP, 11 from Shiv Sena, and 9 from the NCP.

The partners of MahaYuti have established a 21-12-10 formula for ministerial allocation. Among the 39 ministers, 33 are cabinet ministers and 6 are ministers of state.

Fadnavis, together with two Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, was sworn in at a grand ceremony on December 5 in Mumbai, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, numerous NDA leaders, and prominent figures from industry and Bollywood.

Following the swearing-in, Fadnavis's Cabinet now consists of 42 members, just one short of the permissible 43, which constitutes 15 percent of the 288-member state Assembly.

The BJP has excluded former ministers Sudhir Mungantiwar and Ravindra Chavan from the new lineup.

Likewise, Shiv Sena has not allocated ministerial roles to former ministers Tanaji Sawant, Abdul Sattar, and Deepak Kesarkar.

Additionally, the NCP has not included veteran OBC leader and former minister Chhagan Bhujbal, along with former ministers Dilip Walse-Patil and Dharmaraobaba Atram.

Bhujbal expressed his dissatisfaction with his exclusion and opted not to attend a party rally in Nagpur just hours before the cabinet expansion.

Among those sworn in from the BJP are Girish Mahajan, Chandrakant Patil, Pankaja Munde, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, state unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Ashish Shelar, Jaikumar Rawal, Nitesh Rane, Shivendra Bhosale, Pankaj Bhoyar, Ganesh Naik, Meghana Bordikar, Madhuri Misal, Atul Save, Sanjay Savkare, Akash Phundkar, Jaikumar Gore, and Ashok Uike.

Shiv Sena's new ministers include Uday Samant, Dada Bhuse, Sanjay Rathod, Shambhuraj Desai, Gulabrao Patil, Sanjay Shirsat, Bharat Gogawale, Pratap Sarnaik, Prakash Abitkar, Yogesh Kadam, and Ashish Jaiswal.

Shiv Sena ministers will serve for two and a half years, after which they will have to vacate their posts to allow others to join the Cabinet.

The 11 ministers have committed to an oath to resign from their positions after two and a half years, facilitating the entry of new members into the Cabinet.

In a protest against not receiving a ministerial position, Shiv Sena legislator Narendra Bhondekar from the Bhandara constituency has resigned from all his roles.

This incident marks the first time a three-time legislator has publicly voiced dissent.

The NCP has appointed ministers including Hasan Mushrif, Aditi Tatkare, Dhananjay Munde, Dattamama Bharne, Narahari Zirwal, Makarand Patil, Babasaheb Patil, Manikrao Kokate, and Indranil Naik. They have similarly adopted a two and a half year ministerial allocation policy to mitigate internal grievances.

The roster of cabinet ministers includes Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, Hasan Mushrif, Chandrakant Patil, Girish Mahajan, Gulabrao Patil, Ganesh Naik, Dada Bhuse, Sanjay Rathod, Dhananjay Munde, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Uday Samant, Jaikumar Rawal, Pankaja Munde, Atul Save, Ashok Uike, Shambhuraj Desai, Ashish Shelar, Dattamama Bharne, Aditi Tatkare, Shivendra Bhosale, Manikrao Kokate, Jaikumar Gore, Narahari Zirwal, Sanjay Savkare, Sanjay Shirsat, Pratap Sarnaik, Bharat Gogawale, Makarand Patil, Nitesh Rane, Akash Phundkar, Babasaheb Patil, and Prakash Abitkar.

The ministers of state include Madhuri Misal, Ashish Jaiswal, Pankaj Bhoyar, Meghana Bordikar, and Indranil Naik.

Regarding the geographical distribution of ministers, Mumbai-Thane is represented by Ashish Shelar, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, and Pratap Sarnaik; the Konkan region is represented by Nitesh Rane, Uday Samant, Bharat Gogawale, Aditi Tatkare, and Yogesh Kadam.

Ministers from northern Maharashtra include Dada Bhuse, Gulabrao Patil, Narahari Zirwal, Girish Mahajan, Jaikumar Rawal, and Sanjay Savkare.

The western Maharashtra region is represented by Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, Shivendra Bhosale, Shambhuraj Desai, Madhuri Misal, Prakash Abitkar, Dattamama Bharne, Hasan Mushrif, and Jaikumar Gore.

Ministers from the Marathwada region include Pankaja Munde, Atul Save, Sanjay Shirsat, Babasaheb Patil, and Meghana Bordikar.

In Vidarbha, ministers are Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Ashish Jaiswal, Sanjay Rathod, Ashok Uike, Akash Phundkar, and Pankaj Bhoyar.

The swearing-in ceremony took place just before the week-long winter session commencing on Monday, marking the first such event after the formation of the MahaYuti government following the recent Assembly elections.

This is the second instance of a swearing-in ceremony occurring in Nagpur since 1991, when Chhagan Bhujbal and five others took their oaths.

Bhujbal had previously rebelled against Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray and switched to the Congress.

(Sanjay Jog can be contacted at sanjay.j@ians.in)