Ajit Pawar, the state deputy chief minister, stated on Sunday that some ministers who took the oath would serve two and a half-year terms, with a “opportunity to others” being provided for the remaining term, amid reports that some MLAs were upset about being excluded from the recently expanded Maharashtra cabinet. On Sunday, 39 ministers were sworn in to the Mahayuti alliance ministry in Maharashtra, which is led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and has been in power for 10 days. This marks the ministry’s first expansion to 42 members.
The BJP received 19 cabinet positions in the expansion, followed by the Shiv Sena, led by Eknath Shinde, with 11 and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), led by Ajit Pawar, with 9. Prominent figures excluded from the ministry include Sudhir Mungantiwar of the BJP and Chhagan Bhujbal and Dilip Walse Patil of the NCP. Six legislators were sworn in as ministers of state, while 33 lawmakers were sworn in as cabinet ministers.
In Maharashtra, the chief minister is one of a maximum of forty-three members of the council of ministers. “We will give an opportunity to others also for two-and-a-half years,” Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar declared on Sunday, only hours before the cabinet enlargement, at a meeting of his party members in Nagpur. “There aren’t many ministerial berths, but everyone wants to be a minister and deserves a chance,” Pawar continued.
According to reports, certain MLAs are upset over the Maharashtra Cabinet enlargement because they were passed up for ministerial positions. Union Minister Ramdas Athawale expressed displeasure on Sunday after his Republican Party of India (A) failed to obtain a ministerial position in the Mahayuti cabinet expansion, claiming that the party was promised at least one ministry.
“Republican Party of India (A) performed well in the Vidhan Sabha elections. We held meetings with Devendra Fadnavis, and he promised to allocate at least one ministry to us. However, in this expansion, there is no representation from RPI(A). We demand at least one ministry in the Cabinet,” Athawale told news agency.
A report claims that Narendra Bhondekar, an MLA from the Shiv Sena faction led by Eknath Shinde, resigned from a party position because he was unhappy over not being assigned to any ministries. The Shiv Sena’s deputy leader and party coordinator for Vidarbha, where the BJP-led government coalition Mahayuti won 47 of 62 seats, was Narendra Bhondekar.
The Bhandara-Pavani Assembly constituency is represented by Bhondekar, who has not resigned from the assembly. In the next two to three days, new ministers would be given portfolios, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced on Sunday.
Speaking during a press conference on the eve of the legislature’s winter session, following the swearing-in of 39 Mahayuti lawmakers as ministers as part of the cabinet expansion, Fadnavis stated that Mahayuti allies have decided to carry out a “performance audit” of ministers while they are in office.
