Amid resentment from the aspirants from Shinde camp and BJP, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday expanded his cabinet with the induction of 18 ministers nine each from both the sides.
In a simple ceremony held at Raj Bhavan, Governor BS Koshyari administered oath of office and secrecy in the presence of CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
The Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar, BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde, union ministers Raosaheb Danve, Kapil Patil and Bhagwat Karad were among others who were present on the occasion.
Incidentally, not a single women from either sides or independent candidates were inducted today. None of the legislators from the Maharashtra Legislative Council was included in the expansion.
Contrary to expectations, BJP has not given preference only to new faces but has given chance to old guards and experienced leaders in today’s expansion.
The list of new ministers from BJP included: Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, Sudhir Mungantiwar, Chandrakant Patil, Vijaykumar Gavit, Girish Mahajan, Ravindra Chavan, Atul Save, Mangalprabhat Lodha and Suresh Khade.
On the other hand, the list of new ministers from Shinde camp comprised: Gulabrao Patil, Dada Bhuse, Sanjay Rathod, Sandeepan Bhumre, Uday Samant, Abdul Sattar, Deepak Kesarkar, Tanaji Sawant and Shambhuraj Desai.
The notable induction from BJP is Lodha who represents the Malabar Hills assembly constituency and heads the party’s Mumbai unit. He has been given a ministerial berth as the BJP has launched Mission 2022 with a view to win the BMC election by defeating the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena.
Opposition NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena have slammed Shinde for induction of legislators including Sanjay Rathod, Vijaykumar Gavit, Abdul Sattar and Tanaji Sawant despite facing various charges.
BJP leader Chitra Wagh as well as Shiv Sena leader Kishori Pednekar separately lashed out at CM for giving ministerial berth to Rathod who had to resign as the forest minister in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government following serious charges in connection with the death of Pune based woman. Wagh claimed that she will continue her fight as she has full faith in the judiciary.
NCP MP Supriya Sule slammed the Shide-Fadnavis government for not including a single woman in the council of ministers. On the induction of ‘’tainted’’ leaders, Sule claimed that it was possible because of BJP’s washing machine.
In his reaction, CM denied differences among the party legislators from his camp and also with BJP. ‘’Now the cabinet expansion has taken place. The government will work for the welfare of the common man and development of the state.’’
Shinde camp spokesman and newly sworn in minister Deepak Kesarkar said today’s was the short cabinet expansion hinting that another round will take place after the monsoon session.
Shinde camp legislator Sanjay Shirsat, who reportedly expressed displeasure over lack of induction in the cabinet, clarified that he was neither annoyed nor unhappy. ‘’I have a word with the CM and I am not displeased. The Shiv Sena-BJP government will function to take Maharashtra forward with the Centre’s assistance,’’ he noted.
Another legislator from Shinde camp Dilip Lande also claimed no one is displeased with today’s expansion.
Newly inducted ministers Gulabrao Patil and Uday Samant in their separate comments said that the government is committed to work for the common man.
Vikhe-Patil alleged that the MVA government was a ‘’vasooli’’ (extortion) government but the Shiv Sena-BJP government will transform Maharashtra by putting on fast track development.
BJP minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said despite delays in the cabinet expansion a slew of decisions were taken by the Shinde-Fadnavis government including restoration of OBC quota and relief to farmers by giving a subsidy of Rs 50,000 to the farmers who repay their loans regularly.
Newly sworn in minister Tanaji Sawant said he along with other ministers were happy as Shiv Sena has severed links with NCP and Congress and again joined hands with the BJP.
