Team Fadnavis is here: Expanded Maharashtra cabinet a mix of old and new faces

A total of 39 legislators from the Mahayuti allies were sworn in on Sunday as part of the first cabinet expansion of the 10dayold Devendra Fadnavisled government with 16 new faces while 10 former ministers were excludedAccording to news agency PTI just hours before the cabinet expansion ceremony Deputy Chief Minister CM and Nationalist Congress Party NCP chief Ajit Pawar stated that some of the newly swornin ministers would serve a tenure of twoandahalf years highlighting the challenges in accommodating the aspirations of all hopefulsOf the 39 inductees 33 were sworn in as cabinet ministers and six took the oath as ministers of stateThe new council of ministers reflects CM Fadnavis efforts to balance caste representation including Marathas Other Backward Classes OBCs Scheduled Castes SCs and Scheduled Tribes STs as well as regional representation across MaharashtraWith the inclusion of these new ministers the strength of the Fadnavisled cabinet has risen to 42 including the CM and his deputies Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde and Pawar One cabinet position remains vacant PTI reportedThe Bharatiya Janata Party BJP as the largest alliance partner with 132 seats in the Maharashtra Assembly secured 19 ministerial positions 16 cabinet berths and three ministers of state The Shiv Sena received 11 berths while NCP was allotted ninePankaja Munde Aditi Tatkare among four women ministersGovernor CP Radhakrishnan administered the oath to the new ministers at a ceremony held on the eve of the state legislaturersquos winter session in Nagpur The allocation of portfolios is awaitedThe cabinet expansion saw the reentry of key leaders who had served in Fadnavis first term from 2014 to 2019 including BJP leaders Chandrashekhar Bawankule Jaykumar Raval Pankaja Munde and Ashok UikeThe four women ministers who were sworn in on Sunday included Munde Madhuri Misal and Meghna Bordikar from BJP and Aditi Tatkare from NCPMunde and Tatkare took the oath as cabinet ministers while Bordikar and Misal were sworn in as ministers of stateProminent leaders who have been excluded from the new cabinet include Chhagan Bhujbal and Dilip Walse Patil of NCP as well as Sudhir Mungantiwar and Vijaykumar Gavit of BJP From the Shiv Sena former ministers Tanaji Sawant Deepak Kesarkar and Abdul Sattar were not reinducted Anil Patil Sanjay Bandsode and Dharmarao Baba Atram of NCP also missed out on the opportunityThe swearingin ceremony at Raj Bhavan in Nagpur marked a historic moment as it was the first such event in the city in 33 years The last cabinet expansion held in Nagpur took place in 1991 under CM Sudhakarrao Naik who inducted Shiv Sena rebels Chhagan Bhujbal and Rajendra Gole into his government The event was attended by then Governor C SubramaniumNine from western Maharashtra seven from Vidarbha take oathIn terms of regional representation a majority nine of the new ministers come from western Maharashtra They are Madhuri Misal Makrand Patil Shivendrasinh Bhosale Hasan Mushrif Chandrakant Patil Shambhuraj Desai Prakash Abitkar Jaykumar Gore and Datta Bharne North Maharashtra follows closely with eight ministers including prominent leaders such as Girish Mahajan Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and Sanjay SavkareThe Vidarbha region is represented by seven ministers including Chandrashekhar Bawankule Sanjay Rathod Akash Fundkar Ashok Uike Indranil Naik Ashish Jaiswal and Pankaj Bhoyar while six represent the Marathwada region including Pankaja Munde BJP her cousin Dhananjay NCP Atul Save Sanjay Shirsat Meghana Bordikar and Babasaheb PatilFrom the MumbaiThane region prominent leaders such as Ganesh Naik Ashish Shelar Pratap Sarnaik and Mangal Prabhat Lodha have been inducted into the cabinet The coastal Konkan region is represented by five ministers including Nitesh Rane Uday Samant Yogesh Kadam Bharat Gogawale and TatkareAmong the firsttime inductees are Kadam Bordikar Misal Bhoyar Shivendrasinh Bhosale Manikrao Kokate Jaykumar Gore Narhari Zirwal Sarnaik Bharat Gogawale Makrand Patil Rane Fundkar Babasaheb Patil Prakash Abitkar and Sanjay SavkareThe induction of Babasaheb Patil from NCP marks a significant development as it ensures representation for the Ahmadpur constituency in Latur district after 20 years Patil who won the seat in the November 20 Maharashtra Assembly Elections has become a cabinet minister for the first timeIn 2009 Patil was elected for the first time from Ahmadpur on the Rashtriya Samaj Paksha ticket In 2014 he unsuccessfully contested the election on the ticket of the undivided NCP He won the 2019 electionsWith PTI inputs