Deepak Kesarkar, chief spokesperson of the Shinde-led faction of Shiv Sena. (PTI Photo)The expansion of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra cabinet is likely to happen before Sunday, said Deepak Kesarkar, chief spokesperson of the Shinde-led faction of Shiv Sena, on Wednesday.
With expansion awaited, CM Shinde and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis have been the only two members in the cabinet since the formation of the new government on June 30.
Over the last couple of weeks, Opposition leaders in Maharashtra, including Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar and Shiv Sena MLA Aaditya Thackeray, have been questioning the delay in cabinet expansion and the alleged lapses as a result in the governance in the state.
Thackeray has been raising the issue in his rallies that he has been holding during his ongoing tour across the Konkan region. “There is a jumbo cabinet of only two people even as there is a flood situation in the state. They are not able to find the third deserving person even after one month’s time,” the former environment minister said during his Shiv Sanvaad Yatra.
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On Wednesday, Kesarkar, though, said the “expansion of the cabinet is expected before Sunday”.
Another coalition party leader said, “The Supreme Court verdict (on plea on disqualification of MLAs) is expected on Thursday. The decision on expansion will follow the court order and one can expect the expansion on Friday or Saturday.”
The state legislature’s monsoon session was scheduled to start from July 18, but it was put off after Shinde brought down the Uddhav Thackeray-led government and was sworn in as the CM with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
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First published on: 03-08-2022 at 09:55:09 pm