The much-awaited Maharashtra Cabinet expansion took place on Friday with 29 new ministers taking oath. Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan also declared portfolios of ministers according to which deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar will be Maharashtra’s new finance minister.
In the first major expansion of the eight-day-old Prithviraj Chavan government in Maharashtra, 29 ministers — 19 Cabinet ministers and 10 ministers of state — were given oath of office and secrecy by governor K. Sankaranarayanan at Raj Bhavan.
The strength of the ministry has increased to 40 as 11 ministers, including the chief minister, had taken oath on November 11.
The Cabinet ministers sworn in on Friday included Mr Narayan Rane, Dr Patangrao Kadam, Mr Shivajirao Moghe, Dr Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, Mr Harshavardhan Patil, Mr Balasaheb Thorat, Mr Anil Deshmukh, Mr Ramraje Naik-Nimbalkar, Mr Babanrao Pachpute, Mr Rajesh Tope, Mr Rajendra Darda, Mr Naseem Khan, Mr Suresh Shetty, Mr Hasan Mushrif, Dr Nitin Raut, Madhukarrao Chavan, Mr Padmakar Valvi, Ms Varsha Gaikwad and Sanjay Deotale.
The ministers of state who were inducted included Mr Ranjit Kamble, Mr Bhaskar Jadhav, Mr Prakash Solunke, Mr Sachin Ahir, Mr Fauzia Khan, Mr Gulabrao Deokar, Mr Satej Patil, Mr Rajendra Mulak, Mr Rajendra Gavit and Mr Dattatraya Sawant.
Chief minister Chavan, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, chairman of the state Legislative Council Shivajirao Deshmukh, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Dilip Walse-Patil, Leader of the Opposition Eknath Khadse, ministers of the government, officials and other invitees were present on the occasion.
While Mr Pawar, who was said to be interested in the home department, was given the finance ministry along with his earlier energy ministry. In the Ashok Chavan government, Mr Pawar was also holding the charge of water resources ministry, which has now gone to former finance minister Sunil Tatkare.
Mr R.R. Patil will continue as the state home minister while his bête noire from Sangli and another NCP leader Jayant Patil will also continue as state rural development minister.
While most of the ministers got their erstwhile portfolios, Mr Rane received a setback when the revenue ministry was taken away from him. Instead, he was given the less important industry ministry along with port, employment and self-employment.