Shiv Sena joins BJP govt, gets 10 seats in Cabinet

Congress, NCP stay away from swearing-in; BJP allies also abstains, upset at being overlooked

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday expanded his nine-member ministry with the induction of 20 more — 10 each from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena — at a swearing-in function on the premises of the Assembly.

Governor Vidyasagar Rao administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers.  The swearing-in function was attended by Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and his family, apart from BJP ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Piyush Goyal. The Congress and Nationalist Congress Party did not attend the swearing in function.

BJP’s poll allies Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana and Rashtriya Samaj Party were also absent, displeased at not being included in the cabinet expansion.

In the cabinet expansion, the BJP has tried to bring about some regional balance, besides giving due to seniority, loyalty and factions in its selection of ministers. On the other hand, Shiv Sena, which has agreed to play second fiddle to the BJP, has gone by seniority, notwithstanding candidates’ membership from the Legislative Council instead of the Assembly. The Sena has also gone for an urban-rural mix, ignoring discontent from Assembly members for being neglected.

The list of BJP’s cabinet ministers included five time MLA Girish Bapat (Kasba Peth, Pune), Girish Mahajan (Jamner, Jalgaon), Chandrashekhar Bavankule (Kamthi, Nagpur), Baban Lonikar (Partur, Jalna) and Rajkumar Badole (Arjuni-Morgaon, Gondiya).

Bapat earlier declined to become the speaker of the Assembly. Mahajan, who hails from the Gujar community, has been picked to balance BJP veteran and state revenue minister Eknath Khadse, who is reportedly upset over not being considered for the chief minister's post.

Bavankule reportedly belongs to Union minister Nitin Gadkari's camp and has been at the forefront in taking up issues involving farmers and villagers affected due to pollution from coal-based power projects in his constituency.

Shiv Sena's cabinet ministers include Subhash Desai, who was defeated by the BJP's Vidya Thakur from Goregaon constituency. Thakur, who represents a large north Indian community, has already been inducted in Fadnavis' cabinet on October 31. Desai, who was involved during talks with the BJP for sharing power, along with Sena MP Anil Desai, is a confidant of Sena president Uddhav Thackeray.

Others include legislators from Mahrashtra Legislative Council Diwakar Raote, Ramdas Kadam and Dr Dipak Sawant. Both Raote and Kadam were ministers during the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance government between 1995 and 1999. Sawant organises medical camps for the Sena and is a part of the teachers' union. Sena legislator from Thane Eknath Shinde, who had assumed the post of the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly on November 12, has resigned from that post to take the oath as minister.

BJP's ministers of state included Ram Shinde, who is of the Dhangar community, (Karjat-Jamkhed, Ahmednagar), Vijay Deshmukh (Solapur city-North), Raje Ambarish Maharaj (Aheri in Naxalite-affected Gadchiroli), Pravin Pote and Ranjit Patil (both member of the Maharahstra Legislative Council).

Pote, who is an entrepreneur and runs educational institutions, was elected from the local body constituency in Amravati in the Vidarbha region. Patil was elected to the Council from Amravati Graduates constituency.

The Sena list of MoS has Ravindra Waikar (Jogeshwari, two time MLA and elected as corporator thrice), Sanjay Rathord (Digras, Yavatmal), Vijay Shivthare (Purandar, Pune), Dada Bhuse (two time MLA from the Malegaon (outer) Assembly constituency, has won the seat for the third time) and Deepak Kesarkar (Sawantwadi, Sindhudurg, who jumped to Sena deserting Nationalist Congress Party ahead of the Assembly poll).