Eknath Shinde, the chief minister of Maharashtra, met with party leaders prior to the long awaited cabinet expansion. A similar meeting amongst MLAs that left Team Uddhav Thackeray and caused the NCP-Shiv Sena-Congress government to fall took place at the residence of deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis hours before the MLAs’ meeting.
The Shinde-Fadnavis administration has come under fire from the opposition for delaying the expansion of the cabinet. The new government has been in place for 40 days, yet Shinde and Fadnavis are the only members of the cabinet.
After numerous trips to Delhi by the two leaders to meet with the BJP high command, it is anticipated that the cabinet expansion would finally take place at 11 a.m. at Raj Bhawan. The critical home and financial sectors are expected to remain with Fadnavis.
On Tuesday, it’s expected that Uday Samant, Sandipan Bhumre, Dada Bhuse, Gulabrao Patil, and Shambhuraj Desai, among other Shiv Sena dissidents, will receive rewards.
BJP leaders who are anticipated to take the oath include Chandrakant Patil, Sudhir Mungantiwar, Girish Mahajan, Pravin Darekar, and Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil.
The BJP has 107 MLAs in the state assembly, compared to Team Shinde’s 50 in the ruling alliance. The BJP is probably going to acquire more portfolios as the state has a total of 43 seats, so as the growth happens.
There is speculation that the vows administered on Tuesday merely represent the beginning of the expanding exercise. Later, more positions will be filled.