New Maha cabinet: Fadnavis retains Home, Shinde gets Urban Development

Nagpur: After days of anticipation, Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan has officially approved the portfolio allocation for ministers in the newly expanded cabinet, as recommended by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The announcement came following the conclusion of the week-long winter session.

Fadnavis will continue to hold key portfolios, including Home, Energy (excluding renewable energy), Law and Judiciary, General Administration, Information and Publicity, as well as other departments not allocated to any other minister. Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has been given responsibility for Urban Development, Housing, and Public Works (Public Enterprises), while Deputy CM Ajit Pawar will oversee Planning, Finance, and Excise.

Other prominent ministers and their portfolios include:

• Chandrashekhar Bawankule: Revenue

• Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil: Water Resources (including Godavari and Krishna Valley Development Corporation)

• Hasan Mushrif: Medical Education

• Chandrakant Patil: Higher and Technical Education, Parliamentary Affairs

• Girish Mahajan: Water Resources (including Vidarbha, Tapi, and Konkan Development Corporation) and Disaster Management

• Ganesh Naik: Forest

• Gulabrao Patil: Water Supply and Sanitation

• Dadaji Bhuse: School Education

• Dhananjay Munde: Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer Protection

• Mangallrabhat Lodha: Skill Development, Employment, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation

• Uday Samant: Industries and Marathi Language

• Jaykumar Rawal: Marketing and Protocol

• Pankaja Munde: Environment and Climate Change, Animal Husbandry

• Ashok Uike: Tribal Development

• Atul Save: OBC Welfare, Dairy Development, and Renewable Energy

• Shabhuraj Desai: Tourism, Mining, and Ex-servicemen Welfare

• Ashish Shelar: Information Technology and Cultural Affairs

• Dattatray Bharne: Sports, Youth Welfare, Minorities Development, and Aukaf

• Aditi Tatkare: Women and Child Development

• Shivendraraje Bhosale: Public Works (excluding Public Enterprises)

The Ministers of State include:

• Ashish Jaiswal: Finance and Planning, Agriculture, Relief and Rehabilitation, Law and Judiciary, and Labour

• Madhuri Misal: Urban Development, Transport, Social Justice, Medical Education, Minorities Development, and Aukaf

• Pankaj Bhoyar: Home (Rural), Housing, School Education, Cooperation, and Mining

• Meghna Sakore Bordikar: Public Health, Family Welfare, Water Supply and Sanitation, Energy, and Women and Child Development

• Indranil Naik: Industries, Public Works, Higher and Technical Education, Tribal Development, Tourism, Soils, and Water Conservation

• Yogesh Kadam: Home (Urban), Revenue, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Food and Civil Supplies, Consumer Protection, and Food and Drug Administration

The cabinet expansion, which took place on December 15, saw the induction of 39 ministers, although the portfolio allocation was delayed due to lengthy negotiations among the MahaYuti partners. The cabinet now comprises 42 ministers, just one short of the permissible limit of 43.

Despite Shinde’s request for portfolios such as Home, Revenue, and Housing, the BJP has allocated him only the Housing department. Ajit Pawar has retained the Planning and Finance portfolios and additionally been assigned Excise.

With IANS inputs