The 10-day-old Maharashtra government was expanded on Sunday — with 39 MLAs from the ruling coalition taking oath in Nagpur. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also indicated that portfolio allocations would be announced within the next few days. Meanwhile Union Minister Ramdas Athawale has demanded at least one portfolio for his party after being ‘snubbed’ by the Mahayuti alliance.
“39 leaders have taken oath today…six of them are state ministers. In two days, it will be cleared who will be given which portfolio,” said CM Fadnavis.
Meanwhile Deputy CM Ajit Pawar has indicated that some of the newly inducted Ministers would only hold their berths for 2.5 years — eventually handing over their roles to other hopefuls. The NCP chief told a gathering of party workers in Nagpur hours before the expansion that they would also “give an opportunity to others for two-and-a-half years” during the current term.
“I did not even receive an invitation despite being a part of the Mahayuti alliance. Republican Party of India (A) performed well in the Vidhan Sabha elections. We held meetings with 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,” added Union Minister Athawale.
The Cabinet expansion comes more than two weeks after CM Fadnavis and his two deputies were sworn in on December 5. The Mahayuti alliance had been criticised by the opposition for delaying the announcement of its Cabinet despite holding a significant majority. The ceremony on Sunday also comes ahead of the short winter session of Parliament starting on Monday.
“Discussion on the speech of the Governor in this session. 20 bills will come in this session. The opposition gave a letter. A paragraph on EVM has been added to the letter of the last session. The letter has been answered earlier as well, it will be answered as many times as questions are asked. I want to tell them that EVM means Every Vote for Maharashtra,” added Fadnavis.
