Maharashtra cabinet expansion: Upset MLAs, govt’s reassurance & CM’s ‘audit’ plan

The 10-day-old BJP-led Mahayuti ministry in Maharashtra saw its first expansion in Nagpur Sunday, with 39 ministers being sworn in, taking its strength to 42

Maharashtra Governor C. P. Radhakrishnan, state Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Dy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde, Ajit Pawar and others during the swearing-in ceremony of the ministers of the Mahayuti alliance government, at Raj Bhavan in Nagpur on Sunday

Amid reports of some MLAs being upset after being left out of the freshly expanded Maharashtra cabinet, state Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday said some ministers who took oath will have a tenure of two and a half years, adding that an “opportunity to others” will be given for the remainder tenure. The 10-day-old Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Mahayuti alliance ministry in Maharashtra saw its first expansion in Nagpur on Sunday, with 39 ministers being sworn in, taking its strength to 42.

In the expansion, the BJP got 19 ministerial berths, followed by 11 for Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and 9 for Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)

Among the prominent leaders left out of the ministry include NCP’s Chhagan Bhujbal and Dilip Walse Patil and BJP’s Sudhir Mungantiwar.

While 33 legislators were sworn in as cabinet ministers, six took oath as ministers of state.

The council of ministers in Maharashtra can have a maximum of 43 members, including the chief minister.

“We will give an opportunity to others also for two-and-a-half years,” Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar on Sunday said, while addressing a gathering of his party workers in Nagpur hours before the cabinet expansion

Everybody wants to become a minister and deserves an opportunity, but the ministerial berths are limited, Pawar added

Some MLAs upset after Cabinet expansion

The Cabinet expansion in Maharashtra has reportedly left some MLAs miffed after they were not picked for the post of ministers. After his Republican Party of India (A) failed to secure a ministerial birth in the Mahayuti cabinet expansion, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Sunday expressed disappointment and said the party was promised to be allocated at least one ministry

Republican Party of India (A) performed well in the Vidhan Sabha elections. We held meetings with Devendra Fadnavis, and he promised to allocate at least one ministry to us. However, in this expansion, there is no representation from RPI(A). We demand at least one ministry in the Cabinet,” Athawale told news agency ANI.

Meanwhile, Narendra Bhondekar, an MLA from Eknath Shinde’s faction of Shiv Sena, resigned from a party post after being upset over not being given any ministry, according to an NDTV report. Narendra Bhondekar was the deputy leader of the Shiv Sena and party coordinator for Vidarbha, where the BJP-led ruling alliance Mahayuti won 47 of 62 seats.

Bhondekar, who represents the Bhandara-Pavani Assembly constituency, has not resigned from the assembly.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Sunday that portfolios will be allocated to new ministers in the next two to three days.

Addressing a press conference after 39 legislators of Mahayuti took oath as ministers as part of the expansion of the cabinet on the eve of the winter session of the legislature, Fadnavis said Mahayuti allies have agreed to conduct a “performance audit” of ministers during their tenure