Much awaited portfolio allocation of Maharashtra’s ministers took place on 14th August 2022. In the last few days, the state has seen a heated political debate over the cabinet expansion and the subsequent allocation of portfolios after the much-delayed cabinet expansion of the Shinde government. After 18 new ministers had taken the oath on August 9 to join the govt that only had CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis for more than a month, there was again a delay in the allocation of portfolios., The government was then heavily criticized by the opposition for delaying the allocation of portfolios which has finally been announced by the state government.
After distributing portfolios among the 18 ministers, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has kept 13 portfolios for himself. His departments include general administration, urban development, information and technology, information and public relations, public works (public projects), transport, marketing, social justice and special assistance, relief and rehabilitation, disaster management, soil and water conservation, environment and climate change, minority and Auqaf departments. He will also be responsible for the portfolios not allocated to any of the ministers in the cabinet.
Portfolios allocated to Maharashtra ministers – CM Eknath Shinde to handle Urban Development, Environment, Minority, Transport, Disaster Mgmt; Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis gets Home and Finance
— ANI (@ANI) August 14, 2022
(File photo) pic.twitter.com/89AXruI7rF
Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis will handle the home ministry as well as the ministry of finance and planning. Besides, he will hold other ministries including law and justice, water resources and catchment area development, housing, energy, and ministry of the protocol.
Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil gets Revenue, Animal Husbandry & Dairy; Sudhir Mungantiwar gets Forest, Cultural affairs & fisheries; Chandrakant Patil gets Higher, technical education, textile industry & parliamentary work; Shambhuraj Desai gets State Excise Duty pic.twitter.com/lSviDapnN8
— ANI (@ANI) August 14, 2022
The CM holding the departments of environment, relief and rehabilitation, along with departments of transport, urban development and public transport assumes significance in the backdrop of massive opposition to infrastructure projects in the name of the environment by left-liberal activists and Shiv Sena. The outgoing Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP govt had blocked several vital projects including Mumbai Metro and the High-Speed Rail project, causing delays and cost overruns for the projects. With the CM himself in charge of all the relevant departments now, it is accepted that hurdles to infrastructure projects will be removed in the state.
The portfolios given to other Ministers are as follows:
- Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil (BJP) – Revenue, Animal Husbandry, and Dairy
- Sudhir Mungantiwar (BJP) – Forest, Cultural Affairs, and Fisheries
- Chandrakant Patil (BJP) – Higher and Technical Education, Textile Industry, and Parliamentary Work
- Dr. Vijaykumar Gavit (BJP) – Tribal Development
- Girish Mahajan (BJP) – Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Medical Education, Sports, and Youth Welfare
- Gulabrao Patil (Shiv Sena – Shinde) – Water Supply and Sanitation
- Dada Bhuse (Shiv Sena – Shinde) – Ports and Mining
- Sanjay Rathod (Shiv Sena – Shinde)- Food and Drugs Administration
- Suresh Khade(BJP) – Labour
- Sandipan Bhumre (Shiv Sena – Shinde) – Employment Guarantee Scheme and Fruits Production
- Uday Samant (Shiv Sena – Shinde) – Industries
- Tanaji Sawant (Shiv Sena – Shinde) – Public Health and Family Welfare
- Ravindra Chavhan (BJP) – Public Works (excluding Public Projects), Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer Protection
- Abdul Sattar (Shiv Sena – Shinde) – Agriculture
- Deepak Kesarkar (Shiv Sena – Shinde) – Education and Marathi Language
- Atul Save (BJP) – Co-Operation, Other Backward Bahujan Welfare
- Shambhuraj Desai (Shiv Sena – Shinde) – State Excise Duty
- Mangal Prabhat Lodha (BJP) – Tourism, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Women and Children Development
The 18 ministers in the ministry include 9 each from the BJP and the Shinde faction of Shiv Sena. Reportedly, the cabinet will be expanded again after the monsoon session of the Maharashtra assembly.
