Eknath Shinde expands 2-member ministry, inducts 18 ministers into Maharashtra Cabinet

The much-awaited Maharashtra Cabinet expansion saw 9 MLAs each from BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction taking oath as ministers in a grand ceremony at Mumbai's Raj Bhavan.

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New Delhi: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday (August 9, 2022) finally expanded his two-member ministry and inducted 18 ministers. The much-awaited expansion of the Maharashtra Cabinet witnessed 9 MLAs each from BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction taking oath as ministers in a grand ceremony at Mumbai's Raj Bhavan. Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administered the oath of office to 18 MLAs as ministers.

The BJP MLAs who got the cabinet berths include - Chandrakant Patil, Sudhir Mungantiwar, Girish Mahajan, Suresh Khade, Radha Krishna Vikhe Patil, Ravindra Chavhan, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Vijaykumar Gavit, and Atul Save. 

Maharashtra Cabinet expansion | Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administers the oath of office to 18 MLAs as ministers pic.twitter.com/2eDIBVxWj3 — ANI (@ANI) August 9, 2022

The rebel Shiv Sena leaders who have been inducted are Dada Bhuse, Shambhuraje Desai, Sandeepan Bhumre, Uday Samant, Tanaji Sawant, Abdul Sattar, Deepak Kesarkar, Gulabrao Patil, and Sanjay Rathod.

Shiv Sena MLAs Gulabrao Patil and Dadaji Dagadu Bhuse take oath as Maharashtra ministers at Raj Bhavan in Mumbai pic.twitter.com/jkpezoOE1d

— ANI (@ANI) August 9, 2022

The Maharashtra cabinet expansion took place 41 days after Eknath Shinde took oath as the Chief Minister. 

In June, 40 of 55 MLAs of Shiv Sena aligned with Shinde and triggered the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government. Subsequently, Shinde was sworn in as the chief minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis took oath as deputy CM on June 30.

(With agency inputs)