Maharashtra | Mahayuti govt expands Cabinet, state BJP chief Bawankule among 39 sworn in

The Maharashtra government led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis carried out its much-awaited Cabinet expansion on Sunday (December 15). Thirty-nine MLAs were inducted into the Cabinet, including state BJP chief Chandrasekhar Bawankule.

The oath-taking ceremony took place in Nagpur, a day before the commencement of the week-long Winter Session of the state legislature on December 16. With the swearing-in, the power-sharing agreement between the Mahayuti alliance partners is expected to be finalised soon. The home portfolio, which was a bone of contention between the BJP and its ally Shiv Sena (Shinde), will be retained by CM Fadnavis.

Also read: Maharashtra Cabinet expansion: BJP tries to cajole allies on key portfolios

Among those sworn in included BJP leaders Ashish Shelar, Ganesh Naik, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Pankaja Munde, Girish Mahajan, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Chandrakant Patil, Shivendrasinh Bhosale, Jaykumar Gore, Atul Save and Ashok Uike. From the Shiv Sena (Shinde), Shambhuraj Desai, Dadaji Dagadu Bhuse, Sanjay Rathod, Uday Samant and Gulabrao Patil were sworn in. NCP leaders Aditi Tatkare, Dhananjay Munde, Hasan Mushrif, Manikrao Kokate and Narhari Zirwal also took oath.

The Mahayuti alliance registered a decisive victory in the state Assembly polls, securing a landslide win with 230 out of 288 seats. While the BJP won 132 seats, the Shinde Sena secured 57 seats, and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP got 41 seats. On December 5, Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the chief minister, with former CM Eknath Shinde and NCP’s Ajit Pawar taking oath as his deputies.