Finally, on Sunday, Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also carried out an expansion of his cabinet naming 33 cabinet ministers and 6 ministers of state. This occurred 10 days after the swearing-in of the Mahayuti government, where the struggle among partners over strategic ministries begun.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on average secured the majority with 16 cabinet positions excluding ministers of state and 3 of ministers of state. The Shiv Sena of Eknath Shinde got nine cabinet and two state ministers while the NCP of Ajit Pawar got eight cabinet and one state minister post. The portfolio allocation will be completed in two days, Fadnavis added.
The main disputed area has been the home portfolio which has been issues between the BJP and Shinde. Erstwhile, media mouthpieces have pointed that Fadnavis will continue to be the home minister while Shinde is likely to take charge of the urban development department again. While initially opposed, Shinde had to relent saying that power was needed for the party to continue, according to theBJP’s central leadership and his own party.
Ajit Pawar said although his party could have formed the government on its own, some ministers would stay in the office for two-and-a-half years in order to include other leaders within the ministry. Fadnavis added spice to the proceedings calling for a performance audit of ministers suggesting that non-performers might need a refresher.
The ministry expansion comes before the winter session of the Maharashtra Assembly which is proposed to start in Nagpur on Monday. Mahayuti coalition recently had a clean sweep in the state assembly elections by winning 235 of the 288 seats available. The BJP fought 132 seats, Shiv Sena 57 and NCP 41.
The structure of the new council of ministers signifies The attempts to balance the distribution of caste, regional, and political loyalty. Among the new ministers, 16 are fresh faces, and four are women: Pankaja Munde, Madhuri Misal, Meghna Bordikar and Aditi Tatkare. The addition means that the ministry now has 42 members in its fold, to reach the maximum permissible limit of 43 it needs.
