Shiv Sena says portfolio allocation in BJP-led Maharashtra govt expected today

The BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP constitute the Mahayuti alliance government in Maharashtra.

Portfolios in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Mahayuti government in Maharashtra will be assigned on Saturday, Shiv Sena leader Bharat Gogawale has said.

Mahayuti leaders Devendra Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar. (ANI)

The Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), headed by Maharashtra deputy chief ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, respectively, are members of the three-party Mahayuti alliance led by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis from the BJP.

“The allocation of portfolios is likely today. Leaders of the three alliance partners met on Friday, and we had a breakfast meeting with the chief minister this morning. There is no difference of opinion over portfolios and the decision will be acceptable to all,” Gogawale, a minister in the Maharashtra government, told reporters in Nagpur, PTI reported.

Gogawale also said he expects to be appointed the guardian minister of Raigad, his home district.

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and his two deputies were sworn in on December 5, days after the Mahayuti swept aside the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi in the October 20 assembly polls, winning 230 (BJP: 132, Shiv Sena: 57, NCP: 41) of the 288 assembly constituencies in the state.

However, the government formation was delayed as Shinde, who was the chief minister in the Mahayuti government from June 2022 to October 2024, was reportedly reluctant to swap positions with Fadnavis, and when finally convinced, sought the crucial home department, a portfolio he is still adamant about.

Fadnavis held the home ministry as deputy CM and during his previous full stint as chief minister.

On December 15, Mahayuti's top three leaders were joined by 39 members of the alliance as ministers in the Maharashtra government.

The inductees included 19 BJP members, 11 Shiv Sena leaders and nine NCP members.