Ajit Pawar, Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde. (File photo)
With the formation of the grand coalition government in Maharashtra, all eyes are now on cabinet expansion. An agreement has been reached on power-sharing in the Devendra Fadnavis-led Mahayuthi government. As per the information received regarding the cabinet expansion, the new ministers of Maharashtra will be sworn in at 11 am tomorrow. Recently, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Prime Minister Ajit Pawar met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi. Since then, the date for the new minister to be sworn in has been set as December 14.
The winter session of the Maharashtra Assembly is expected to begin on December 16. In this case, the swearing-in ceremony of the new minister will be held before then. The Maharashtra Assembly has a total of 288 seats. In this case, there can be a total of 43 ministers in the government. However, from a party perspective, the BJP has a maximum of 132 seats. Shinde’s Shiv Sena bagged 57 seats and NCP (Ajit) 41 seats. Meanwhile, the Ajit group MLA said, “If there is no finance ministry, then even Mahayuti has no meaning”.
Ajit Pawar should be made finance minister – NCP MLA
Ahead of the swearing-in ceremony of the new Maharashtra minister, NCP Ajit sent an MLA to warn against getting the finance minister’s post. MLAs from Ajit’s group said the finance ministry of the Maharashtra government should be handed over to Ajit Pawar. Because he had this ministry in the previous Grand Alliance government. He said Ajit Pawar is expected to be the finance minister. This is not only our demand but also the demand of the people of Maharashtra. He also said that if the Finance Ministry is not found, then there will be no point for Mahayutthi.
Ajit Pawar also served as finance minister in the previous Mahayutth government. At the same time, I believe he may also have this ministry this time. As for Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde, he is said to have asked the Home Ministry. However, Sindh is expected to get the Ministry of Urban Development, according to sources. Devendra Fadnavis is believed to have visited Delhi for this purpose.
The Ajit faction is expected to get 10 ministries and the Sindhi faction is expected to get 11 ministries.
Devendra Fadnavis met Amit Shah in Delhi on Wednesday. Thereafter, he also formally met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party Chairman Nadda and President Draupadi Murmu. It is believed that the purpose of Fadnavis’ visit to Delhi is to expand the size of the cabinet. Deputy Prime Minister and NCP chief Ajit Pawar also met Amit Shah on Thursday. After this meeting, Ajit Pawar announced December 14 as the date for cabinet expansion.
Also Read – What are the 4 issues with Rajnath, Priyanka and Akhilesh speaking out in Parliament?
In Maharashtra, Mahayutthir’s alliance won 230 of the 288 seats in a landslide. Depending on the seats won by the party, the BJP can retain 22 ministries. While the Ajit faction is expected to get 10 ministries, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena is expected to get 11 ministries. However, according to sources, only 14-15 ministers will take oath at the swearing-in ceremony for the new Maharashtra ministers to be held on December 14. The rest will be included later through cabinet expansion.
