Maharashtra Cabinet expansion: Sudhir Mungantiwar, Chhagan Bhujbal, Abdul Sattar denied ministerial berths

Mumbai: Springing a surprise, the Maha Yuti-NDA leadership dropped around a dozen stalwarts like BJP’s Sudhir Mungantiwar and Ravindra Chavan, NCP leaders Chhagan Bhujbal and  Dilip Walse-Patil and Shiv Sena legislators Abdul Sattar and Deepak Kesarkar from the list of ministers sworn in on Sunday.

The portfolio allocation is expected during the next two to three days.

After the December 5 swearing-in, when Devendra Fadnavis took his oath as the Maharashtra Chief Minister and Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar officially became the state's Deputy CMs, this was the first ministerial expansion.

The swearing-in ceremony for the ministers was held on Sunday on the eve of the Nagpur winter session of Maharashtra Legislature.

Governor CP Radhakrishnan administered oath of office and secrecy to 33 Cabinet ministers and six Ministers of State (MoS). The list includes four women. 

In selecting the ministers, Fadnavis undertook social engineering to ensure that there is representation from all the five regions and communities. 

"It's an all inclusive ministry...there is representation for women. There were people from all communities...OBCs, STs, SCs and so on," said Fadnavis. 

The total strength of Maharashtra’s ministry could be 43 and as of now only one berth has been kept vacant. 

While the BJP has not commented on the issue, the NCP and Shiv Sena are working on the idea of giving two-and-a-half-year terms for the ministers and that performance would be the only criteria. 

However, when asked, Fadnavis said that there would be a regular "performance audit" of the ministers and the call would be taken accordingly. 

Nineteen of those who were sworn in are fresh faces. 

During Sunday’s expansion, 19 were from the BJP, 11 from Shiv Sena and nine from NCP. 

Chavan, a four-time MLA from Dombivli in Thane district and considered close to Fadnavis, could be the next BJP President as the incumbent Chandrashekhar Bawankule has been inducted into the ministry. 

However, Mungantiwar, the seven-time MLA from Ballapur, not being in the ministry has come as a bolt from the blue to the BJP ranks and files. 

Bhujbal, who is a seven-time MLA and two-term MLC, who had also been a Deputy CM, is very upset. Bhujbal, a senior OBC leader, is also the President of Akhil Bharatiya Mahatma Phule Samata Parishad. Walse-Patil, who is a seven-term MLA from Ambegaon in Pune, is a former Speaker. 

Sattar was dropped for often courting controversies for his statements as the BJP high-command was very careful on such issues.

Kesarkar was the Shiv Sena spokesperson and his missing name created some ripples too.  

Asked about some seniors being dropped, the CM and two Deputy CMs said that there could be other responsibilities that they could be called to shoulder. 

BJP’s state unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule, his Mumbai counterpart Ashish Shelar, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Chandrakant Patil, Girish Mahajan, Ganesh Naik, Mangal Pratap Lodha, Jaykumar Rawal, Pankaja Munde and Atul Sawe were among the ministers who took oath. 

Shiv Sena's Dada Bhuse, Shambhuraj Desai, Sanjay Rathod, Gulabrao Patil and Uday Samant were also sworn in as ministers. 

NCP’s Manikrao Kokate, Dattatray Vithoba Bharne, Hasan Mushrif, Aditi Sunil Tatkare and Dhananjay Munde were among the ministers who took the oath of office on Sunday.

The cabinet expansion is taking place 10 days after Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the chief minister for the third time on December 5.