Maharashtra cabinet expansion; 9 ministers each from BJP, Sena take oath

Update: 2022-08-09 04:54 GMT
Maharashtra Chief Minister, Eknath Shinde, and Deputy CM, Devendra Fadnavis.

Forty days after Eknath Shinde’s rebellion led to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray government, a new cabinet of 18 ministers – nine each from the Shiv Sena and the BJP – under his leadership was sworn in on Tuesday (August 9).

The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Raj Bhavan in south Mumbai at 11 am. Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administered the oath of office to the 18 ministers.

BJP legislators who got ministerial portfolios are Chandrakant Patil, Sudhir Mungantiwar, Girish Mahajan, Suresh Khade, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Ravindra Chavan, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Vijaykumar Gavit and Atul Save.

Dada Bhuse, Sandeepan Bhumre, Uday Samant, Tanaji Sawant, Abdul Sattar, Deepak Kesarkar, Gulabrao Patil, Sanjay Rathod and Shambhuraje Desai, all Sena legislators were sworn in as cabinet ministers.

The second round of cabinet expansion is likely in the next two to three weeks.

Earlier in the morning, Chief Minister Shinde met Shiv Sena legislators backing him at the Sahyadri guest house in south Mumbai, reportedly to pacify those who did not make it to the ministerial list.

Shinde is backed by 40 of the 55 Shiv Sena MLAs.

Shinde was sworn in as the chief minister and BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis took oath as deputy CM on June 30.

Since his swearing-in, the Opposition has criticised the government for delaying cabinet formation.

From the BJP fold

From BJP, the following ministers have been added to the cabinet:

Chandrakant Patil (63), a two-term MLC and first-term MLA from western Maharashtra who served as Revenue and PWD minister from 2014-19.

Girish Mahajan (62), a BJP leader from north Maharashtra who has won Assembly elections six consecutive times.
Sudhir Mungantiwar (60), a six-time MLA from Vidarbha’s Chandrapur district who served as finance and forest minister during 2014-19.
Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil (63), a seven-term MLA from Ahmednagar district who was the leader of opposition in Assembly while in Congress during but won the 2019 Assembly election on BJP ticket.
Ravindra Chavan (51), a three-term MLA from Thane district who served as a minister of state during 2014-19.
Vijaykumar Gavit (67), who is a five-term MLA, who left NCP in 2014 to join the BJP.
Atul Save (60), a second-term BJP MLA from Marathwada (Aurangabad).
Mangal Prabhat Lodha (66), a five-term BJP MLA who is the Mumbai unit president of the party. Reportedly, he is  the richest MLA in the state.
Suresh Khade (64), a second-term BJP MLA from western Maharashtra’s Sangli district. .
From Camp Shinde
From Camp Shinde, the following ministers have been added to the cabinet:
Sanjay Rathod (51), a four-term Sena MLA from Yavatmal district who was the forest minister when Uddhav Thackeray was the chief minister, and was forced to resign after BJP leaders blamed him for a woman’s suicide.
Gulabrao Patil (56), a four-term Shiv Sena MLA from north Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district who was a minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government.
Uday Samant (46), a four-term Sena MLA from Ratnagiri district.
Sandipan Bhumre (59), a five-time MLA from Marathwada’s Aurangabad district who was a cabinet minister in the previous government.
Dada Bhuse (58),a four-term Shiv Sena MLA from north Maharashtra’s Nashik district.
Shambhuraj Desai (55), a three-term Sena MLA from Satara district.
Tanaji Sawant (58), a first-term Sena MLA from Osmanabad district. He is a former member of the Legislative Council.
Abdul Sattar (54), a three-term MLA from Marathwada. He was with the Congress in his first two terms and joined the Sena in 2019.
Deepak Kesarkar (67), a three-term MLA from Shiv Sena. He is from Sindhudurg district and is a former minister of state.
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