Cabinet expansion and Monsoon session in the next few days, promises Maha CM

Hours after the Supreme Court announced the next hearing on a clutch of petitions filed by warring Shiv Sena factions to August 1, Eknath Shinde ready to expand his Cabinet in the next few days.

Hours after the Supreme Court announced the next hearing on a clutch of petitions filed by warring Shiv Sena factions to August 1, Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde indicated he was ready to expand his Cabinet in the next few days.

 Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde. (Raj k Raj/HT file photo)

His 20-day old government so far has only 2 ministers--him and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

“It will happen soon. There is no relation between the ongoing legal process in the Supreme Court and the expansion,” his deputy Devendra Fadnavis also told the media, adding that the Cabinet formation had been held back on account of the presidential elections which took place on Monday.

A senior BJP leader who did not wish to be identified, told HT that the expansion was likely to happen on either July 22 or 26. “Twelve ministers, six each from the BJP and the Shinde camp are likely to take oath,” he said. A second round of expansion will happen after the monsoon session of the Maharashtra Assembly which had earlier been scheduled to start on July 18 but will now commence from August first week.

“Some ministerial berths may be kept vacant by Shinde to accommodate any disgruntled elements or likely dissenters later,” said the BJP MLA. Names under consideration as potential ministers include independents and legislators from smaller parties like Vinay Kore of the Jana Surajya Shakti and Ravi Rana, who along with his wife, MP Navneet Raut Rana, had attacked Uddhav Thackeray.

Shinde and his group are expected to get 15 or 16 ministerial berths while the BJP will keep 27 to 28 portfolios including home, finance, revenue, water resources, housing and co-operation. The Shinde faction is slated to get urban development, public health, medical education, agriculture and rural development.

Those rebels who were ministers in the MVA government like Uday Samant, Dadaji Bhuse, Sandipan Bhumre, Gulabrao Patil, Abdul Sattar, Shambhuraj Desai, and independents Rajendra Patil Yadravkar and Bacchu Kadu expect to be re-accommodated in the new Cabinet. Those like Bacchu Kadu, who was a minister of state in the Thackeray regime is expecting a cabinet portfolio in this round. All projections notwithstanding the Cabinet expansion will happen under the shadow of the disqualification case that the SC still has to adjudicate.