Nagpur: Maharashtra Cabinet Expansion: After 33 years, Nagpur, Maharashtra’s second capital, finally hosted the much-awaited cabinet expansion ceremony on Sunday. It was ten days following Devendra Fadnavis’s appointment as Chief Minister, alongside Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde as Deputy Chief Ministers. A total of 39 ministers were sworn in – 33 as Cabinet Ministers and six as Ministers of State.
This expansion saw the induction of 19 new faces with no prior ministerial experience. While Pune city secured two ministerial positions with MLAs Chandrakant Patil and Madhuri Misal, Pimpri Chinchwad missed out on a cabinet seat, despite being neglected for the past 20 years.
In this cabinet reshuffle, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed the largest share with 19 ministerial berths, followed by 11 for Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and 9 for Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
The Chief Minister and his two deputies were elected 13 days after the assembly results were announced. After 10 more days, CM Fadnavis expanded the cabinet. Pune had been expecting six ministerial posts, including two for Pune city, one for Pimpri Chinchwad, and three for the district. However, only four positions were allocated: Deputy CM Ajit Pawar from Baramati, Chandrakant Patil and Madhuri Misal from Pune, and Datta Bharne from Indapur, leaving Pimpri Chinchwad unrepresented.
Out of the 21 MLAs in the district, except for Bapu Pathare (NCP) in Vadgaon Sheri and Babaji Kale (Shiv Sena UBT) in Khed-Alandi, all are part of the ruling Mahayuti. Sharad Sonawane, elected as an independent from Junnar, declared his support for the Shinde-led faction, thus bringing 18 of the 21 district MLAs under the ruling alliance. At least six were expected to be appointed as ministers. (Maharashtra Cabinet Expansion)
Political Dynamics –
Chandrakant Patil, the senior BJP leader from Kothrud, was nearly guaranteed a ministerial post and now becomes a Cabinet Minister for the second time. Madhuri Misal, elected from Parvati constituency for the fourth consecutive term, secured the position of Minister of State. Rahul Kul from Daund, Mahesh Landge, and Anna Bansode from Pimpri-Chinchwad were also considered, but their names did not appear on the final list.
The NCP’s Ajit Pawar holds the deputy chief minister’s post, and due to the power-sharing formula, the NCP received fewer ministerial appointments. Thus, Dattatray Bharane from Indapur was inducted into the cabinet.
Similarly, two Shiv Sena MLAs from the district, including Vijay Shivtare of Purandar, who previously served as Minister of State, were left disappointed as they were not included in the final list.
Madhuri Misal and Chandrakant Patil’s Political Journey –
In the 2024 assembly elections, local BJP leaders were initially unhappy with the decision to field Madhuri Misal from Parvati. However, she won the seat convincingly and earned the trust of senior BJP leaders, who appointed her as a minister.
Chandrakant Patil, a prominent BJP leader and former Cabinet Minister, held key positions from 2014 to 2019, including Revenue, Public Works, Cooperation, Marketing, and Agriculture. He also served as Leader of the Legislative Council from 2016 to 2019.
Among the new inductees, four women took office: Pankaja Munde, Madhuri Misal, Meghna Bordikar of BJP, and Aditi Tatkare of NCP. Munde and Tatkare took oaths as Cabinet Ministers, while Bordikar and Misal were appointed as Ministers of State.
List of Newly-Inducted Ministers in Maharashtra Cabinet –
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) :Cabinet Ministers –
– Chandrashekhar Bawankule
– Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil
– Chandrakant Patil
– Girish Mahajan
– Atul Save
– Ganesh Naik
– Mangalprabhat Lodha
– Shivendraraje Bhosale
– Jaykumar Rawal
– Pankaja Munde
– Ashish Shelar
– Ashok Uike
– Jaykumar Gore
– Sanjay Savkare
– Nitesh Rane
– Akash Fundkar
Ministers of State –
– Madhuri Misal
– Meghna Bordikar
– Pankaj Bhoir
Shiv Sena :
Cabinet Ministers –
– Shambhuraj Desai
– Uday Samant
– Dada Bhuse
– Gulabrao Patil
– Sanjay Rathod
– Sanjay Shirsat
– Pratap Sarnaik
– Bharat Gogavale
– Prakash Abitkar
Ministers of State –
– Ashish Jaiswal
– Yogesh Kadam
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) :
Cabinet Ministers –
– Hassan Mushrif
– Aditi Tatkare
– Babasaheb Patil
– Dattatray Bharane
– Narahari Jirwal
– Manikrao Kokate
– Makarand Jadhav-Patil
Minister of State –
– Indranil Naik
