Maharashtra portfolios: Fadnavis keeps Home, gives Finance to Ajit, Urban Development to Shinde
While the CM will handle Energy, Law and Judiciary, General Administration Department and Information and Publicity departments, Shinde has also been given PWD and Ajit State Excise departments
Ending the two-week-long deadlock over portfolios, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday (December 21) allocated ministries to his council of ministers, retaining the crucial Home department with him.
Fadnavis will also handle Energy, Law and Judiciary, General Administration Department and Information and Publicity departments, an official statement said.
Shinde gets two departments
Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was allocated Urban Development, and Housing and Public Works Department (public enterprises).
Ajit Pawar, another Deputy Chief Minister was given the Finance and Planning, and State Excise departments.
Also read: Maharashtra Cabinet expansion: BJP tries to cajole allies on key portfolios
Notably, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar had handled the Home and Finance, respectively, in the previous Eknath Shinde-led government.
Sena’s demand for Home Department
Leaders of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena had said they expected that their party would get the Home Department. But BJP sources had indicated that the saffron party, which won 132 out of 288 seats in the November 20 Assembly polls against the Shiv Sena's 57 and Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party's 41 seats, would not cede the important portfolio.
The portfolios were allocated after the weeklong winter session of the state Legislature ended earlier in the day.
As many as 39 ministers had been sworn in on December 15, before the start of the session, while Fadnavis and his two deputies had taken the oath of office on December 5.
The Mahayuti alliance of the BJP, NCP and Shiv Sena swept the assembly elections, winning 230 of 288 seats.
Who gets what
Portfolios allocated to BJP ministers are – Chandrashekhar Bawankule (Revenue), Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil (Water Resources- Krishna and Godavari Valley Development corporation), Chandrakant Patil (Higher and Technical Education, Parliamentary affairs), Girish Mahajan (Water Resources- Vidarbha , Tapi, Konkan Development Corporation and Disaster Management).
Also read: Sulking Shinde, stubborn BJP: Maharashtra deadlock deepens
Ganesh Naik has been given Forests, Mangal Prabhat Lodha Skill Development, Employment, Entrepreneurship and Innovation; Jaykumar Raval Marketing and Protocol, Pankaja Munde Environment and Climate Change, Animal Husbandry; Atul Save OBC Welfare, Dairy Development and Renewable Energy.
Ashok Uike has been given Tribal Development, Ashish Shelar Cultural Affairs and Information Technology, Shivendrasinh Bhosale Public Works.
Jaykumar Gore has been given Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Sanjay Savkare Textiles, Nitesh Rane Fisheries and Ports, Akash Fundkar Labour.
In Sena, NCP’s kitty
Shiv Sena ministers' portfolios: Gulabrao Patil has been given Water Supply and Sanitation, Dadaji Bhuse School Education, Sanjay Rathod Soil and Water Conservation, Uday Samant Industries and Marathi language, Shambhuraj Desai Tourism, Mining, Ex-servicemen Welfare, Sanjay Shirsat Social Justice, Pratap Sarnaik Transport, Bharat Gogawale Employment Guarantee, Horticulture, Salt Pan Lands Development; and Prakash Abitkar Public Health and Family Welfare.
NCP ministers' portfolios: Hasan Mushrif has been allotted Medical Education, Dhananjay Munde Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection, Dattatrey Bharne Sports ,Youth Welfare and Minority Development and Aukaf, Aditi Tatkare Women and Child Development , and Manikrao Kokate Agriculture.
Narhari Zirwal has been given Food and Drug Administration, Special assistance. Makrand Patil has been given Relief and Rehabilitation, while Babasaheb Patil was allocated Cooperation.
Also read: Maharashtra | You will be chief minister one day, Devendra Fadnavis tells Ajit Pawar
Among Ministers of States, Shiv Sena's Ashish Jaiswal has been given Finance and Planning, Agriculture, Relief and Rehabilitation, Law and Judiciary and Labour.
BJP's Madhuri Misal has been given Urban Development, Transport, Social Justice, Medical Education, Minorities Development and Aukaf.
Pankaj Bhoyar, also of BJP has got Home (Rural), Housing, School Education, Cooperation and Mining.
BJP 's Meghana Bordikar has got Public Health and Family Welfare, Water Supply and Sanitation, Energy, Women and Child Development, Public Works (Public Enterprises).
(With inputs from agencies)