Nagpur: More than two weeks after he was sworn in, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday reshuffled his cabinet, keeping the crucial home department with him.
Fadnavis will also hold the portfolios of Energy, Law and Judiciary, General Administration and Information and Publicity, an official statement said here. Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was allotted the Department of Urban Development, Housing and Public Works (Public Enterprises). Another Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar got Finance and Planning, State Excise.
Notably, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar handled Home and Finance respectively in the previous Eknath Shinde-led government. Shinde-led Shiv Sena leaders had hoped that their party would get the home department. But BJP sources indicated that the saffron party, which won 132 of the 288 seats in the November 20 assembly polls against the Shiv Sena’s 57 and the Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party’s 41 seats, would not hand over the important portfolio.
Departments were allotted after the week-long winter session of the state legislature ended here a day ago. Thirty-nine ministers were sworn in on December 15 before the start of the session, while Fadnavis and his two deputy prime ministers were sworn in on December 5.
The Mahayuti alliance of BJP, NCP and Shiv Sena has won the assembly elections by winning 230 out of 288 seats. Departments allotted to BJP ministers – Chandrashekhar Bawankule (Revenue), Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil (Water Resources- Krishna and Godavari Valley Development Corporation), Chandrakant Patil (Higher and Technical Education, Parliamentary Affairs), Girish Mahajan (Water Resources- Vidarbha, Tapi. Konkan Development Corporation) and disaster management).
Ganesh Naik to Forest, Mangal Prabhat Lodha Skill Development, Employment, Entrepreneurship and Innovation; Jayakumar Rawal Marketing and Protocol, Pankaja Munde Environment and Climate Change, Animal Husbandry; Atul Save OBC Welfare, Dairy Development and Renewable Energy.
Ashok Uike has been given the responsibility of tribal development, Ashish Shelar has been given the responsibility of cultural affairs and information technology, and Shivendra Singh Bhosale has been given the responsibility of public works. Jayakumar Gore has been given Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Sanjay Savkare Textiles, Nitesh Rane Fisheries and Ports, Akash Phandkar Shramik.
Shiv Sena Ministers’ Departments: Gulabrao Patil Water Supply and Sanitation, Dadaji Bhuse School Education, Sanjay Rathod Soil and Water Conservation, Uday Samant Industries and Marathi Language, Shambhuraj Desai Tourism, Mines, Ex-Servicemen Welfare, Sanjay Shirsat Social Justice, Pratap Sarnaik. Transport, Bharat Gogave Employment Guarantee, Horticulture, Salt Pan Land Development; Prakash Abitkar Public Health and Family Welfare.
Departments of NCP Ministers: Hasan Mushrif Medical Education, Dhananjay Munde Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection, Dattatreya Fill Sports, Youth Welfare and Minority Development and Endowments, Aditi Tatkare Women and Child Development, Manikrao Kokate Agriculture.
Narahari Jirwal has been given special support by the Food and Drug Administration. Makarand Patil has been given the responsibility of relief and rehabilitation while Babasaheb Patil has been allocated support.
Among the ministers of state, Shiv Sena’s Ashish Jaiswal has been given the portfolios of Finance and Planning, Agriculture, Relief and Rehabilitation, Law and Judiciary and Labour. BJP’s Madhuri Misal has been given urban development, transport, social justice, medical education, minority development and endowments.
BJP’s Pankaj Bhoyer also got Home (Rural), Housing, School Education, Co-operatives and Mines. BJP’s Meghna Bordikar has been given the portfolios of Public Health and Family Welfare, Water and Sanitation, Energy, Women and Child Development, Public Works (Public Enterprises).