Maharashtra: Eknath Shinde-led ministry expanded; 18 ministers take oath
The ministers include nine each from the Shinde group and BJP, respectively.
- Aug 9, 2022,
- Updated Aug 9, 2022 12:22 PM IST
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led ministry finally expanded as 18 ministers took oath at Raj Bhavan in south Mumbai on Tuesday. The ministers include BJP's Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Sudhir Mungantiwar and BJP president Chandrakant Patil, among others. The ministers include nine each from the Shinde group and BJP, respectively.
The Cabinet expansion took place almost 41 days after Shinde took oath as the CM.
The new BJP ministers are Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Sudhir Mungantiwar, Chandrakant Patil, Vijaykumar Gavit, Girish Mahajan, Suresh Khade, Ravindra Chavan, Atul Save and Mangalprabhat Lodha.
From the Shinde group, Gulabrao Patil, Dada Bhuse, Sanjay Rathod, Sandipan Bhumre, Uday Samant, Tanaji Sawant, Abdul Sattar, Deepak Kesarkar and Shambhuraj Desai were sworn in as ministers.
Shinde was sworn in as the chief minister and Devendra Fadnavis took oath as deputy CM on June 30.
This would take the strength of the Maharashtra ministry to 20, less than half the maximum allowed strength of 43.
Shinde, who emerged as a surprise choice for the top post after managing to take a major chunk of Shiv Sena MLAs with him following the rebellion in June, will have a difficult task to accommodate all of them in the ministry, sources said.
Prior to Cabinet expansion, the CM has made seven visits to New Delhi in the last one month, and with every visit there was talk that the ministry expansion was round the corner.
(With agency inputs)
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led ministry finally expanded as 18 ministers took oath at Raj Bhavan in south Mumbai on Tuesday. The ministers include BJP's Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Sudhir Mungantiwar and BJP president Chandrakant Patil, among others. The ministers include nine each from the Shinde group and BJP, respectively.
The Cabinet expansion took place almost 41 days after Shinde took oath as the CM.
The new BJP ministers are Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Sudhir Mungantiwar, Chandrakant Patil, Vijaykumar Gavit, Girish Mahajan, Suresh Khade, Ravindra Chavan, Atul Save and Mangalprabhat Lodha.
From the Shinde group, Gulabrao Patil, Dada Bhuse, Sanjay Rathod, Sandipan Bhumre, Uday Samant, Tanaji Sawant, Abdul Sattar, Deepak Kesarkar and Shambhuraj Desai were sworn in as ministers.
Shinde was sworn in as the chief minister and Devendra Fadnavis took oath as deputy CM on June 30.
This would take the strength of the Maharashtra ministry to 20, less than half the maximum allowed strength of 43.
Shinde, who emerged as a surprise choice for the top post after managing to take a major chunk of Shiv Sena MLAs with him following the rebellion in June, will have a difficult task to accommodate all of them in the ministry, sources said.
Prior to Cabinet expansion, the CM has made seven visits to New Delhi in the last one month, and with every visit there was talk that the ministry expansion was round the corner.
(With agency inputs)