Nagpur:

Senior BJP leader from Maharashtra, Sudhir Mungantiwar, on Monday, claimed his name had figured in the list of ministers who took the oath a day before but it was removed later.

A day after Mungantiwar failed to find a place in the expanded Devendra Fadnavis-led cabinet, the BJP leader said he was not upset and stressed he was an organisation man.

“I will continue to work for people of my constituency and highlight issues about their welfare in the legislative assembly,” the former forest minister told reporters in Nagpur.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis hinted that BJP leadership may assign another role to Mungantiwar.

“I had spoken to Mungantiwar. He is a senior leader and the leadership may entrust him with any other responsibility,” the chief minister said.

A total of 39 legislators of Mahayuti allies took oath as ministers- 33 of cabinet rank and six others as ministers of state- at Raj Bhavan in Nagpur on Sunday as part of the first expansion of the Fadnavis-led cabinet.

The BJP secured 19 ministerial berths, followed by 11 ministers of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and 9 by Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Mungantiwar claimed he was told earlier that his name was included in the list of ministers.

“There is no reason for me to be upset as I do my job in whatever role the party assigns to me. The only issue is that I was told that my name was there (in the list of ministers). But it wasn’t there yesterday. I don’t know why my name was removed,” the seven-time BJP MLA told reporters in Nagpur.

Mungantiwar didn’t attend the legislature session on the first day on Monday though he was in Nagpur.

When asked if the BJP leadership was upset with him, Mungantiwar said such things are not expressed by denying the ministerial position.

Queried if the BJP leadership was upset with him, he said they would call and speak to him if that is the case.

“Maybe the BJP has some other responsibility planned for me,” he added.

Mungantiwar met with Union minister and Nagpur MP Nitin Gadkari at the latter’s residence in Nagpur on Monday.

He described his meeting with Gadkari as the one between an elder brother and a younger brother.

“When such things come up I take his guidance,” he added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is going ahead with his cabinet expansion today — more than three weeks after the assembly election results were declared. The ministers are taking oath at a grand programme in Nagpur — his constituency.  Maharashtra can have a maximum of 43 ministers. Thirty-nine are expected to take oath today.

Mr Fadnavis is attending the programme at the Raj Bhavan in Nagpur along with Mr Shinde and Mr Pawar. 

Among the ministers who have taken oath so far are the BJP’s Atul Save, Ashok Uike, Ashish Shelar, Shivendrasinh Bhosale and Jaykumar Gore, Shiv Sena’s Shambhuraj Desai, NCP’s Dattatray Bharne, Aditi Tatkare, Manikrao Kokate, Narhari Zirwal.

On December 5, Mr Fadnavis had taken oath as the Chief Minister and Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar as his deputies at a programme in Mumbai that was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, other BJP stalwarts and allies. 

The delay in the cabinet expansion was fallout of the tussle over portfolios.

While former Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had to settle for the post of Mr Fadnavis’s Deputy this time, his party had been hoping to skim off the cream of the portfolios, including the home ministry, which the BJP was unwilling to accept.

Ever since Mr Fadnavis became Chief Minister for the first time, he has been handling the home portfolio. He handled it even when Mr Shinde was the Chief Minister.

After weeks of hectic parleys over the Chief Minister chair and then the ‘who-gets-what-ministry’, the new BJP-led government in Maharashtra is all set to expand its Cabinet today. The BJP, which holds the highest share of Cabinet berths, will likely induct 19 MLAs, including three women leaders, sources said.

The list of probable BJP leaders are:

Pankaja Munde

Meghna Bordikar

Madhuri Misal

Chandrashekhar Bawankule

Nitesh Rane

Shivendra Raje Bhosle

Chandrakant Patil

Pankaj Bhoir

Mangal Prabhat Lodha

Girish Mahajan

Jayakumar Rawal

Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil

Ganesh Naik

Atul Save

Aakash Fundkar

Ashok Uike

Jayakumar More

Sanjay Savkare

Ashish Shelar

According to sources, Maharashtra may have 40 ministers in its new Cabinet, with 50 per cent of new and young faces likely to be inducted. The council of ministers in the state can have a maximum of 43 members, including the Chief Minister.

While former Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena may get around 12 Cabinet seats, Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) may get 10 seats, sources. At least six new leaders from the Shiv Sena are likely to take oath as ministers – Pratap Sarnaik, Prakash Abitkar, Sharat Gogavale, Yogesh Kadam, Ashish Jaiswal, and Sanjay Shirsat.

Mr Shinde’s Sena faction is believed to want the Home portfolio, which was previously held by Devendra Fadnavis. However, the BJP is unlikely to give it up and keep it to themselves, sources said. The Sena may be offered Urban Development, Public Works Department, and Revenue.

The Cabinet expansion will take place today at 4 pm in Nagpur.

In the November 20 assembly elections, the Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the state. While the BJP secured 132 seats, the Sena bagged 57 and NCP got 41 seats. On December 5, Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra with former Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and NCP leader Ajit Pawar as his deputies.

The Mahayuti alliance had also come under fire from the opposition for not naming its Cabinet for weeks despite having an overwhelming majority.

Ahead of the Cabinet expansion, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis held a roadshow in Nagpur. He was accompanied by his wife Amruta Fadnavis and state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule.

“Nagpur city is my family and my family is welcoming me,” he said during the roadshow.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is in Delhi to hold talks with the BJP leadership on the distribution of ministerial berths among the three allies of Mahayuti — BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP. NCP chief Ajit Pawar is also in the national capital and has put up party leader Praful Patel’s residence. Conspicuous by his absence is Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, who agreed to become Deputy Chief Minister after reluctantly vacating the Chief Minister post for Mr Fadnavis.

According to sources, the formula of ministerial berth distribution within the Maharashtra government has been finalised. The BJP is likely to get around 20 seats, the Shiv Sena 12 and the NCP 10. Maharashtra can have a total of 43 ministers, including the Chief Minister. The formula appears to have been finalised after considering each ally’s performance in the recently held Assembly polls in which Mahayuti scored a mammoth victory. While the BJP won 132 seats, the Sena bagged 57 and NCP scored 41.

Mr Fadnavis met Union Home Minister Amit Shah last night to discuss the ministerial expansion. He also met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Mr Shinde’s absence, however, has cast a shadow, suggesting that the Sena chief has still not made peace after he was forced to vacate the Chief Minister post for Mr Fadnavis, who served as his deputy in the previous government.

While the Sena had argued that the election was won under the leadership of Mr Shinde and he must continue as Chief Minister, the BJP refused to budge and claimed the top post for Mr Fadnavis. Mr Shinde did not have much leverage because the BJP needed just NCP’s support to cross the majority mark. Publicly, Mr Shinde said he would not be an obstacle in government formation and also took the oath as Deputy Chief Minister on December 5, but his absence in the capital now has raised eyebrows in political circles. It is, however, not known if he can still fly down.