Maharashtra Cabinet meeting: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday (December 15) said that the ministers who were sworn in today will serve a tenure of two and a half years, after which their performance will be reviewed.
The Cabinet expansion of the BJP-led Maharashtra government took place today, with 39 ministers, taking its strength to 42. Notably, the council of ministers in Maharashtra can have a maximum of 43 members, including the chief minister. While 33 legislators were sworn in as cabinet ministers, six took oath as ministers of state. In the expansion, BJP got 19 ministerial berths, followed by 11 for Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and 9 for Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party.
CM Fadnavis on 2.5 years ministerial post
Addressing the media after the cabinet expansion, the CM said, "Our party has decided that our ministers will work for two and a half years for the ministerial post, then after two and a half years we will give opportunity to new people after seeing their performance. We will also have a performance audit of the work of every minister in our party and government, this will be for the ministers of all three parties," said the CM.
CM Fadnavis also informed that the portfolio allocation to Maharashtra ministers in the next two days. "Almost consensus has been reached on all the departments, so we will declare the portfolio in two days. We have not decided anything about the guardian minister yet, we will decide after the session. The Speaker of the Assembly will decide on the Leader of Opposition," he said.
"The Assembly session will begin tomorrow, during which we will pass 20 bills. We have already responded to the letter sent by the opposition and addressed the questions raised. We will provide a dynamic government in the state. The opposition is attempting to create a misleading narrative regarding EVMs, but we will address it. For us, EVM signifies every vote for Maharashtra," he added.
Fadnavis to distribute portfolios: Shinde
Deputy CM Eknath Shinde said that CM Devendra Fadnavis will allocate the portfolios. He congratulated Fadnavis on becoming Chief Minister for the third time, noting that Fadnavis had expressed his intention to return, which he has now done. Shinde emphasised the teamwork between them, saying, "We worked as a team."
During the oath-taking ceremony of the cabinet ministers, Shinde said, "For the last few days, we were seeing who is getting how many departments. This conference is being held in Nagpur, and I congratulate Devendra ji. The match is new, the opposition remains the same. We have worked as a team. Devendra ji and Ajit Dada are with me. I had said earlier that I would bring 200 MLAs, and Ajit Pawar's arrival is a bonus. We have a responsibility towards the public. Decisions will be taken in a dynamic manner."
Shinde said, "The situation is such that the opposition has not even got a leader of the opposition. The public has shown that they stand behind those who work. We had invited them (opposition) and I thought they would come (to the swearing-in ceremony). The public has boycotted these people. They took us lightly for 2.5 years."
