Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray expanded Monday his over a month-old ministry by inducting 36 ministers, including his 29-year-old son Aaditya, while Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister.
Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administered oath to 14 ministers from NCP, 10 from Congress and 12 from the Shiv Sena at Vidhan Bhavan (state legislature) premises in south Mumbai.
The 36 ministers sworn in Monday include 10 Cabinet and four Ministers of State (MoS) of the NCP, eight Cabinet and four MoS of Shiv Sena, and eight Cabinet and two MoS of Congress.
The NCP now has 12 Cabinet ministers and four MoS, the Shiv Sena 10 Cabinet ministers and four MoS while Congress has 10 Cabinet ministers and two MoS.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray were among the Cabinet ministers who took oath.
Ajit Pawar was sworn in to the post for the second time in just over a month. He had taken oath as deputy CM on November 23 after he rebelled against the NCP and joined hands with the BJP. However, he resigned on November 26, leading to collapse of the three-day Devendra Fadnavis government.
Senior Congress leader and former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan did not find place in Thackeray’s ministry. There is speculation that he may lead the state Congress unit.
BJP leaders – and Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut – skipped the ministry expansion ceremony.
“This government has not fulfilled the expectations of Maharashtra’s farmers. We don’t feel like attending the ceremony,” a BJP leader said.
Sanjay Raut’s absence was attributed to his brother Sunil, a Sena MLA, not finding a place in the ministry expansion.
The Shiv Sena kept its senior leaders Ramdas Kadam and Diwakar Raote, who were ministers in the previous Devendra Fadnavis-led government, out of the new council of ministers.
Instead, it included allies Shankarrao Gadakh (of Krantikari Shetkari Paksh) as Cabinet minister, and Rajendra Patil Yedravkar (Independent) and Bachchu Kadu (Prahar Janshakti Party) as MoS.
Senior NCP leaders Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh, who were ministers in the previous Congress-NCP government, also found place in the ministry.
Uddhav Thackeray and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar were among those present at the swearing-in ceremony.
The Shiv Sena has 56 MLAs, NCP 54 and Congress 44 members in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly. The BJP has 105 MLAs.
Agencies