The much-anticipated Maharashtra cabinet expansion unfolded at a grand ceremony in Nagpur’s Raj Bhavan last week with 39 ministers, including six junior ministers, sworn in by Governor C P Radhakrishnan, signalling the first major event for the BJP-Shiv 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. The alliance left just one seat vacant in its jumbo cabinet - 43 members, including chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and his two deputies Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar.
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 a wobbly issue with discussions on key departments like home, finance, urban development, and revenue still underway. The first rumblings in the Sena-Shinde camp were felt in Bhandara, where a three-time MLA, Narendra Bhondekar, resigned from all party posts.
The swearing-in ceremony 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, Shindeled Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar-led NCP, marking a critical step in stabilising the coalition govt. Among the newly inducted ministers, 19 are from BJP, 11 from Shiv Sena and nine from NCP.
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. Even the veteran, Ganesh Naik, who was minister in the Manohar Joshi-led govt, Vilasrao Deshmukh- led govt and later Ashok Chavan-led 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%.
Shiv Sena has also retained the 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. Similarly, NCP has 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.
