Shinde retained the Urban Development Department which he had handled in the previous government led by Uddhav Thackeray.(Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)One and half months after the swearing-in of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and a week after 18 Cabinet members were sworn in, the ministers in Maharashtra were allocated Cabinet portfolios on Sunday.
The BJP ensured that the majority of important portfolios are allocated to it with Fadnavis trumping over the others by managing to ensure that both Home and Finance departments stay with him. Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari approved the Cabinet portfolio distribution on Sunday evening.
Shinde retained the Urban Development Department which he had handled in the previous government led by Uddhav Thackeray. Along with it, he will handle Information and Technology, Public Works (PWD), Transport, Marketing, Social Justice, Relief and Rehabilitation, Disaster Management, Soil and Water Conservation, Environment, and Minority Affairs.
Besides Home and Finance, Fadnavis held on to important portfolios such as Law and Judiciary, Irrigation, Housing, Power, and Protocol.
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Among the 18 Cabinet ministers, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil will handle Revenue as well as Animal Husbandry and Dairy development. Former state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil will oversee Higher and Technical Education, Textiles, and Parliamentary Affairs, while former finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar will be the Minister for Forest, Cultural Affairs and Fisheries.
Dr Vijaykumar Gavit will be the Minister for Tribal Development, while Girish Mahajan will handle Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Medical Education, and Sports & Youth Welfare portfolios. Suresh Khade will be the new Labour Minister and Ravindra Chavan will handle Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation as well as Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection. New entrant Atul Save will handle Cooperation and OBC portfolios, and former BJP Mumbai chief Mangal Prabhat Lodha will be the new Tourism, Skill Development and Woman and Child Welfare Minister of Maharashtra.
In a demotion within the Shinde camp, former agriculture minister Dadaji Bhuse was only given Ports and Mining portfolios. Abdul Sattar is the new Agriculture Minister. Gulabrao Patil has retained his earlier portfolio of Water Supply and Sanitation. Controversial leader and former forest minister Sanjay Rathod will oversee Food and Drug Administration. Shinde loyalist Sandipan Bhumare has been given Employment Guarantee Scheme and Horticulture. Uday Samant will be the new Industries Minister, while Tanaji Sawant has been given the responsibility of the Public Health Department. Deepak Kesarkar will handle School Education and Marathi Language, and Shambhuraj Desai will oversee the Excise Department.
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First published on: 14-08-2022 at 06:29:39 pm