The Devendra Fadnavis Government on Sunday expanded the Ministry with 13 new ministers. Six serving ministers have been dropped. The move is seen as an attempt to strengthen the government before the Maharashtra Sssembly elections, which are likely to be held in October.

The induction of new ministers almost coincides with the Monsoon session of Maharashtra Legislature, which is commencing on Monday.

Among the most prominent faces to join the Fadnavis team is former Congressman and leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, who quit the grand old party on June 5. With Congress party losing massive public support in Maharashtra before the parliamentary elections, Vikhe Patil had also put in his papers as leader of the Opposition.

The other notable faces to the join the government are Mumbai BJP President, Ashish Shelar, who is seen as a major force in keeping the party united in Mumbai and continuously directing the party cadre during the parliamentary elections. Former Nationalist Congress Party leader Jaydutta Kshirsagar, who was also a minister in the Congress-NCP government 2009-2014. From the Republic Party of India (A) leader Avinash Mahatekar was given a berth as Minister of State. All three new ministers are not members of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly or Maharashtra Legislative Council, but still, they can hold the ministerial position for six months.

Interacting with the media on the eve of the Monsoon session of the Legislature, Fadnavis said new members have been inducted in the Ministry so as to provide a regional balance. The decisions to drop six ministers are not based on their performance, he said.

Fadnavis said that 28 Bills will be discussed in the session, of which 13 would be fresh Bills. The State government was also in the process of uploading database of 1.2 crore farmers, which would be used for the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, which would be used for faster disbursal of funds during the Kharif season.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW