Fadnavis counters criticism over Cabinet expansion delay; recalls 1st 32 days of MVA govt

Responding to the opposition's criticism of the delay in Cabinet expansion, Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis recalled the initial days of the erstwhile MVA government. He referred to the fact that Uddhav Thackeray's Cabinet had only 6 Ministers- Subhash Desai, Chhagan Bhujbal, Jayant Patil, Balasaheb Thorat, Nitin Raut and Eknath Shinde from November 28, 2019, till December 30, 2019, when 36 more Ministers were sworn in. As the size of the Council of Ministers cannot exceed 15% of the total number of MLAs, Maharashtra can have a maximum of 43 Ministers including the Chief Minister. 

Devendra Fadnavis remarked, "They (MVA leaders) say a lot of things throughout the day. Don't ask me about them. Ask our lower-rung spokespersons about it. The people who ran the government with 5 Ministers for 32 days don't have the moral right to question us. Our Cabinet will be formed soon. We will not any work remain struck". From June 30, only Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and Fadnavis have been managing the affairs of the state.

Maharashtra CM on Cabinet expansion

Speaking to the media after meeting veteran Shiv Sena leader Liladhar Dake on Thursday, Eknath Shinde reiterated that the Cabinet expansion will happen soon. At the same time, he pointed out that the government had taken a slew of decisions for the welfare of the people since coming to power. Dismissing Sanjay Raut's claim that the government will collapse under the weight of its own contradictions, Shinde highlighted that he had the support of 2/3rd Shiv Sena members in the Maharashtra Assembly and Lok Sabha. 

Eknath Shinde stated, "The Cabinet expansion will happen soon. But I will tell you that after Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and I took charge of the state, we took big decisions for farmers. We took the decision to reduce the petrol and diesel prices and send water to drought-prone areas. In yesterday's Cabinet meeting also, we took many important decisions." 

"Let him (Sanjay Raut) keep dreaming. This is a government of 166 MLAs. At the Centre, 12 Lok Sabha MPs have given a letter to the Speaker. We have a 2/3rd majority in both Houses. This is a strong government. Let him (Raut) dream. When I went to Delhi 3-4 times, the OBC reservation case was pending in the Supreme Court. Both Fadnavis and I went there and met the lawyers and the state government ensured justice to the OBC community," he added.