Over 40 days after leading a successful rebellion and assuming the Chief Ministerial mantle, Maharashtra’s Eknath Shinde today expanded his two-member government. A total of 18 MLAs took oath today, with another round of expansion set to take place later. The ‘rebel’ Shiv Sena leader had been sworn in on June 30 with BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy.
The newly inducted lawmakers include several ‘rebel’ members of the Shiv Sena who had been part of the Shinde faction as well as BJP leaders.
Here’s a full list:
BJP leaders: Chandrakant Patil, Sudhir Mungantiwar, Girish Mahajan, Suresh Khade, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Ravindra Chavhan, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Vijaykumar Gavit and Atul Save.
Shiv Sena leaders: Dada Bhuse, Shambhuraje Desai, Sandeepan Bhumre, Uday Samant, Tanaji Sawant, Abdul Sattar, Deepak Kesarkar, Gulabrao Patil and Sanjay Rathaud.
Here are the latest updates:
– BJP leader Mangalprabhat Lodha takes oath as minister. He is a six-term MLA from Mumbai.
– Sena rebels Deepak Kesarkar, Shambhuraje Desai and Abdul Sattar take oath. The latter has recently found himself mired in controversy after the names of his daughters surfaced in connection with the TET (Teachers Eligibility Test) scam.
– BJP leader Ravindra Chavan sworn in as cabinet minister.
– Sena ‘rebels’ Uday Samant, Sandipan Bhumre and Tanaji Sawant sworn in as ministers.
– BJP leader Suresh Khade takes an oath as minister.
– Sena rebel Sanjay Rathod sworn in as minister. He had earlier been dropped as a minister from the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA cabinet after being linked to the death of a woman. At that time the BJP Opposition had demanded his ouster.
– Shiv Sena MLAs Gulabrao Patil and Dadaji Dagadu Bhuse take oath as Maharashtra ministers at Raj Bhavan.
– Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Sudhir Mungantiwar sworn in as Maharashtra ministers. They are among the nine BJP MLAs taking oath at the Raj Bhavan today.
– Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administers the oath of office to 18 MLAs.
– 18 ministers to be sworn in today at Raj Bhavan in Mumbai – official letter surfaces
– Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar present at Raj Bhavan for oath ceremony.
– Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde along with his MLAs leaves for Raj Bhavan from Sahyadri Guest House in south Mumbai.
– “Hopeful that I’ll be given some responsibility. I’d like to thank PM, HM, JP Nadda and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis that I’ll get an opportunity to serve people of Maharashtra. I feel I’ll get a berth in the state cabinet,” says Mumbai BJP president Mangal Prabhat Lodha.
– Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar alleged that Shinde had promised a ministerial berth to every MLA who joined him. “Now Shinde is unable to fulfil his promise, hence the delay in cabinet expansion. The chief minister should disclose reasons for the delay,” he said on Monday.
– The maximum allowed strength of the Maharashtra ministry is 43. A second round of expansions will take place later.
– Nine Sena leaders from the Shinde faction and nine BJP leaders are likely to be inducted today. From the Shinde group, names of Bharat Gogawale and Shambhuraj Desai are doing the rounds. From the BJP, state party chief Chandrakant Patil, Sudhir Mungantiwar, Girish Mahajan, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Suresh Khade and Atul Save are likely to be inducted.
