10 new ministers join Maharashtra ministry

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday inducted five Cabinet Ministers and Ministers of State each and elevated a Minister of State to the cabinet.

Governor C.V. Rao administered the oath of office and secrecy to the 10 ministers in the presence of Fadnavis, his cabinet colleagues and other senior officials.

Uddhav Thackeray - President of Shiv Sena, the ruling alliance partner - was conspicuous by his absence from the ceremony at Vidhan Bhavan complex.

The new Cabinet ministers are: Pandurang Fundkar, Jaykumar Raval, Sambhaji Patil-Nilangekar, Subhash Deshmukh and Mahadeo Jankar.

The Ministers of State are: Arjun Khotkar, Ravindra Chavan, Madan Yeravar, Gulabrao Patil and Sadashiv Khot.

Ram Shinde, who was the Minister of State for Home, has been elevated.

Among the new joinees, six are from the Bharatiya Janata Party, two from the Shiv Sena and two from smaller allies.

With this, the strength of Fadnavis' cabinet is 39.

--IANS

qn/rn/mr