Maharashtra cabinet expansion: BJP secures 19 berths, allies take 20

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expanded his cabinet, more than three weeks after the assembly election results were declared. A total of 39 ministers were sworn in during a grand ceremony at Nagpur, Mr. Fadnavis’s constituency. With this, the cabinet is nearly at full capacity, with 42 out of 43 possible berths occupied.

The new ministers include 19 from the BJP, 11 from the Shiv Sena, and 9 from the NCP. Notable BJP leaders who took the oath include state unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Ashish Shelar, Ganesh Naik, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Pankaja Munde, Girish Mahajan, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Chandrakant Patil, and Nitesh Rane. From the Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde faction, leaders such as Shambhuraj Desai, Dadaji Dagadu Bhuse, Sanjay Rathod, Uday Samant, Gulabrao Patil, and Sanjay Shirsat were inducted. The NCP’s representation includes Aditi Tatkare, Dhananjay Munde, and Hasan Mushrif.

The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, along with Mr. Fadnavis, at the Raj Bhavan in Nagpur.

The expansion followed the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance’s landslide victory in the recent assembly elections, where the coalition won 235 seats. The BJP emerged as the single largest party with 132 seats, while the Shiv Sena secured 57 and the NCP won 41 seats.

This development comes after a delay attributed to disagreements over portfolio allocation. The tussle primarily revolved around key portfolios like the home ministry. Despite being Deputy Chief Minister in the previous term, Eknath Shinde’s faction aimed to secure significant portfolios, including home, which the BJP was unwilling to relinquish. Ever since Mr. Fadnavis’s first term as Chief Minister, he has held the home portfolio, even during Mr. Shinde’s tenure as Chief Minister.

Mr. Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde, and Ajit Pawar had taken their oaths earlier on December 5 in Mumbai, in a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP leaders, and allies. The cabinet expansion solidifies the BJP’s leadership within the coalition, balancing representation from its alliance partners.