Maharashtra: Ajit Pawar bags Finance Ministry, loyalists get 6 portfolios
The Nationalist Congress Party's (NCP) rebel leader, Ajit Pawar, was granted Maharashtra's Finance Ministry on Friday. The NCP faction led by Pawar has been granted five other portfolios, including the Cooperation Ministry, which will be helmed by Dilip Walse Patil. No new faces were inducted into the cabinet as was expected by the Shiv Sena camp led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Why does this story matter?
Around two weeks earlier, Pawar and his supporters crossed over from the opposition to join the ruling Shiv-Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance. As Pawar was appointed deputy CM, the Shiv Sena (Shinde) reportedly became uneasy over the power-sharing arrangement. The induction of Pawar and his loyalists into the cabinet was reportedly resisted by Shinde's camp, which was eyeing the vacancies in the cabinet.
Who received what
NCP rebel Chhagan Bhujbal has been allocated the food, civil supplies, and consumer protection department, while Dhananjay Munde has been given the agriculture department. Furthermore, Anil Patil has been granted the disaster management department, Hasan Mushrif has the Medical Education Ministry, Dharmarao Atram has the Ministry of Food and Drug Administration, and Sanjay Bansode has the Sports Ministry.
Maharashtra cabinet now has 29 ministers
Aditi Sunil Tatkare, the first woman in the Shinde cabinet, has been given Women and Child Development Ministry. With Pawar and eight of his MLAs joining the cabinet, the total number of ministers went up to 29 against a maximum limit of 43. Before the Pawar camp's induction, the cabinet had 10 ministers from the BJP and Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) each.
