'May Not Be Qualified Enough': BJP Leader Pankaja Munde On Not Being Included In New Maharashtra Cabinet

Pankaja Munde was a cabinet minister in an earlier BJP-Sena government headed by Devendra Fadnavis.

BJP leader Pankaja Munde (File)

Source : Getty

Maharashtra Cabinet Expansion: After over a month of deliberations since Eknath Shinde took oath as Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy, the cabinet expansion process was finalised as ministers took oath on Tuesday. Names like Chandrakant Patil, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and Sudhir Mungantiwar from BJP took oath as part of the newly expanded cabinet.     

Since the cabinet expansion of this newly formed Eknath Shinde's government, the first disgruntlement was noted after BJP leader Pankaja Munde on Thursday said she may not have been "qualified enough" to get a berth in the expanded Maharashtra cabinet.

Asked about it by reporters, Pankaja said: “I may not be qualified enough to be inducted. Whoever is eligible according to them will be inducted into the cabinet. I have no stand about it. I try to do my politics by maintaining my pride.”

According to media reports, Pankaja Munde was missing from the cabinet oath-taking ceremony as well.

Pankaja Munde, the daughter of late BJP stalwart Gopinath Munde, was a cabinet minister in an earlier BJP-Sena government headed by Devendra Fadnavis. During her period she was at the centre of the chikki scam”.

Munde was accused of clearing purchases worth Rs 206 crore through Government Resolutions on a single day instead of inviting tenders.

Meanwhile, Shinde has also received flak as there was not a single woman among them.

List Of Cabinet Ministers In Eknath Shinde Govt

Nine ministers each from Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena faction and his ally BJP took oath during the first expansion of the ministry earlier this week.

BJP

1. Chandrakant Patil
2. Sudhir Mungantiwar
3. Girish Mahajan
4. Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil
5. Suresh Khade
6. Atul Save
7. Ravindra Chavhan
8. Mangal Prabhat Lodha
9. Vijaykumar Gavit

Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde Faction)

1. Dadaji Bhuse
2. Shambhuraje Desai
3. Sandipan Bhumre
4. Uday Samant
5. Tanaji Sawant
6. Deepak Kesarkar
7. Gulabrao Patil
8. Abdul Sattar
9. Sanjay Rathod