The team of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was strengthened on Tuesday with the appointment of 18 new ministers.
In an attempt to strike a balance, Shinde has inducted 9 ministers from his party and 9 from the ally Bharatiya Janata Party, more than 40 days after the duo took over on June 30 following the collapse of the former Maha Vikas Aghadi government led by former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Gulabrao Patil, Dadaji Bhuse, Sanjay Rathod, Sandipan Bhumre, Uday Samant, Tanaji Sawant, Abdul Sattar, Deepak Kesarkar, and Shambhuraj Desai are the Shinde group’s ministers.
Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, a BJP MLA, was sworn in as a minister. Patil, Chandrakant Mungantiwar, Sudhir Mahajan, Girish Gavit, Vijaykumar Suresh Khade, Atul Save, Ravindra Chavan, and Mangal Prabhat Lodha are among the cast members.
Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administered the oaths of office and secrecy to the new ministers at a ceremony in Raj Bhavan attended by Shinde, Fadnavis, Leader of the Opposition Ajit Pawar, and other legislators from various political parties and officials.
Source:SE