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 Patil2. Sudhir Mungantiwar3. Girish Mahajan4. Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil5. Suresh Khade6. Atul Save7. Ravindra Chavhan8. Mangal Prabhat Lodha9. Vijaykumar Gavit
Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde Faction)
1. Dadaji Bhuse2. Shambhuraje Desai3. Sandipan Bhumre4. Uday Samant5. Tanaji Sawant6. Deepak Kesarkar7. Gulabrao Patil8. Abdul Sattar9. Sanjay Rathod