Politics

After A Month Long Wait, Maharashtra Cabinet Expansion Today

Maharashtra

Senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil, and former water resources minister Girish Mahajan are likely to, be inducted into the Shinde-Fadnavis team, sources added.

Mumbai:  Five MLAs from the Bhartiya Janata Party and four from the Shinde Sena are expected to take oath in at the much-awaited cabinet expansion in Maharashtra today, according to reports.

The cabinet expansion comes 40 days after a revolt by a Shiv Sena faction led by then Thackeray loyalist Eknath Shinde brought down the Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray-led government.

The Opposition had criticized the delay in expanding the cabinet following the swearing-in of Eknath Shinde, who led the rebellion, as chief minister and the BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy in June.

Also Read: RJD Says Open To Alliance With JDU, Amid Political Turmoil

Senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil, and former water resources minister Girish Mahajan are likely to, be inducted into the Shinde-Fadnavis team, sources added.

Sources further said, from the Shinde Sena, Gulab Raghunath Patil, Sada Sarvankar, and spokesperson of the Shinde faction Deepak Vasant Kesarkar are likely to take oath tomorrow.

Shiv Sena MLA Shinde and BJP leader, Devendra Fadnavis, were sworn in as chief minister and Deputy chief minister respectively on June 30.

After the resignation of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, due to a revolt in the Sena ranks.

The Shinde-Fadnavis duo had been functioning as a two-member cabinet since then, inviting criticism from the Opposition. MR Fadnavis and Mr. Shinde visited Delhi multiple times in the recent past regarding the issue of cabinet expansion.

According to sources, Mr. Fadnavis is likely to get the Home portfolio, which he held during his first term as CM, from 2015-2020.

Dear Readers,
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
Some error occurred

Related posts

Politics

RJD Says Open To Alliance With JDU, Amid Political Turmoil

Shashank
jdu

The RJD leader’s statement came a day after the Janata Dal (United) said it will not join Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet during the next expansion.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal, on Monday, said it was ready to form a government in Bihar with Nitish Kumar led-Janata Dal (United), if he breaks his coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party, according to news agency PTI.

RJD vice president Shivanand Tiwary said,  “If Nitish [Kumar] chooses to dump NDA [National Democratic Alliance], what choice do we have except to embrace him,” “RJD is committed to fighting the BJP. If the chief minister decides to join this fight, we will have to take him along.”

The RJD leader’s statement came a day after the Janata Dal (United) said it will not join Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet during the next expansion.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had also skipped the NITI Aayog meeting chaired by the Prime Minister on Sunday. Before this, he remained absent during the farewell of former President Ram Nath Kovind and the swearing-in ceremony of current President Droupadi Murmu.

Nitish Kumar-led JDU is in an alliance with the BJP in Bihar since 2017. Tejaswi Yadav lead RJD is currently the state’s single largest party with 75 seats. BJP has one less, JDU,  however, has 43. A total of 122 seats are required to form the goverment in the state.

The VIP and HAM who are alliance partners of the NDA have 4 seats each. The Grand Old Party has 19 seats, CPI(ML) has 12, and CPI and CPI (M) have 2 each.

If there is a split in the alliance, It will not be the first time that Nitish Kumar would be shaking hands with his rivals.  In 2013, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his Janata Dal (United) split from the BJP. Two years later, he joined hands with arch-rival Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress to form the mahagathbandhan (grand alliance). In 2017, he left the mahagathbandhan and returned to the BJP.

 

 

Related posts