A total of 39 legislators from Mahayuti allies were sworn in on Sunday in the first cabinet expansion of the 10-day-old Devendra Fadnavis-led ministry including 16 new faces, while 10 former ministers were excluded.
Hours before the cabinet expansion ceremony, Deputy CM and NCP leader Ajit Pawar said that some of those who took oath will have a tenure of two-and-a-half-years, underlining constrains in accommodating aspirations of hopefuls.
While 33 legislators were sworn in as cabinet ministers, six took oath as ministers of state.
The new council of ministers reflects Fadnavis’ efforts in balancing caste equations including sections of Marathas, OBCs, SCs, and STs and striking a regional balance.
Among the new inductees, four are women, including Pankaja Munde, Madhuri Misal, and Meghna Bordikar of BJP and Aditi Tatkare of NCP. Munde and Tatkare took oath as Cabinet ministers, and Bordikar and Misal as MoS.
Prominent leaders excluded in the new Cabinet are Chhagan Bhujbal and Dilip Walse Patil of NCP, and Sudhir Mungantiwar and Vijaykumar Gavit of BJP.
From Shiv Sena, former ministers Tanaji Sawant, Deepak Kesarkar, and Abdul Sattar were not re-inducted. Anil Patil, Sanjay Bandsode, and Dharmarao Baba Atram of NCP also missed out on the second chance.
The swearing-in ceremony at Raj Bhavan in Nagpur was conducted after 33 years, the last such event being the cabinet expansion of the Sudhakarrao Naik dispensation in 1991.
