Nagpur: The much-anticipated Maharashtra cabinet expansion unfolded at a grand ceremony in Nagpur's Raj Bhavan on Sunday with 39 ministers, including six ministers of state (MoS) sworn in by Governor CP Radhakrishnan, signalling the first major event for the BJP-Sena-NCP Mahayuti alliance after their electoral victory. Thirteen ministers from the previous govt, notably forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar and senior NCP leaders Chhagan Bhujbal and Dilip Walse Patil were dropped. Bhujbal was part of the team that had sworn in Nagpur, way back in 1991. The alliance left just one seat vacant in its jumbo cabinet — 43 members, including CM and his two deputies. Another prominent name missing in Fadnavis' team is Ravindra Chavan, who is likely to wear the mantle of Maharashtra BJP president, as per top sources.
The allocation of portfolios, however, remains wobbly issue with discussions on key departments like home, finance, urban development, and revenue still underway. Sources suggest chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is likely to retain the home portfolio, despite resistance from deputy CM Eknath Shinde. The final portfolio distribution is expected within two days, Fadnavis told reporters at his official residence here, hours after the swearing-in ceremony. The first rumblings in the Sena-Shinde camp were felt in Bhandara, where a three-time MLA, Narendra Bhondekar, resigned from all party posts to protest his omission from the ministry.
The swearing-in ceremony, strategically held a day before the winter session of the assembly, drew attention for its blend of experience and fresh blood with state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule, who was the first to take oath, making a comeback after being dropped in 2019. With 33 cabinet ministers and six MoS, the Mahayuti ensured a balance among BJP, Sena (Shinde faction), and NCP (Ajit Pawar faction), marking a critical step in stabilising the coalition govt. Among the newly inducted ministers, 19 are from BJP, nine from Ajit Pawar-led NCP and 11 from Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
Six first-time ministers — BJP's Meghana Bordikar, Madhuri Misal and Pankaj Bhoyar; NCP's Indranil Naik; Shiv Sena's Ashish Jaiswal and Yogesh Kadam — took oath as MoS. Other fresh faces in the cabinet include Ashok Uike, Ashish Shelar, Shivendra Raje Bhonsale and Jaykumar Gore. The new govt will have four women ministers — BJP's Pankaja Munde, Madhuri Misal, Meghana Bordikar and NCP's Aditi Tatkare. There's one Muslim in the Mahayuti govt — Hasan Mushrif of the Ajit Pawar camp.
Besides Bawankule, another senior BJP leader to make a comeback in the cabinet is former minister and MLC Pankaja Munde, who was a cabinet minister in Fadnavis-led BJP-Sena govt in 2014. Notably, she took oath with her brother, Dhananjay Munde, who had sworn in from NCP (Ajit Pawar). Even the veteran, Ganesh Naik, who was minister in then Manohar Joshi govt, Vilasrao Deshmukh govt and later Ashok Chavan govt, was included this time. Former tourism minister Jaykumar Rawal has also made a comeback after 2014.
BJP has retained most of its big names in the Shinde cabinet, including Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Chandrakant Patil, Girish Mahajan, Mangalprabhat Lodha, and Atul Save, cobbling up a strike of 48%.
The Shinde Sena has also retained majority of its ministers of the former govt, but included new faces like party spokesperson Sanjay Shirsat, former legislative party leader Bharat Gogawale, along with Pratap Sarnaik, Prakash Abitkar and Ashish Jaiswal. The party garnered a strike rate of 28.5%.
Similarly, the Pawar-led NCP has also retained most of its former ministers, but granted opportunity to new faces — former deputy speaker Narhari Zirwal, Manikrao Kokate, Dattatray Bharne, Makrand Jadhav Patil, Babasaheb Patil and Indranil Naik (MoS) from Pusad. The party garnered a strike rate of 23.8%.
The Maharashtra Cabinet expansion comes over three weeks after BJP-led Mahayuti swept the elections in the state by winning over 230 seats in the 288-member Assembly.