Maharashtra Cabinet expansion likely on August 9, 39 days since government formation

In a massive political development, sources told Republic TV that the Maharashtra Cabinet expansion will take place at 11 am on Tuesday, August 9. This assumes significance in the wake of Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde's visit to the national capital where he attended the 7th meeting of the Governing Council of the NITI Aayog chaired by PM Modi. The expansion of the Cabinet will usher in much-needed stability for the coalition government headed by Shinde. Meanwhile, sources hinted that BJP's Ashish Shelar or Sudhir Mungantiwar might become the next president of the party's Maharashtra unit. 

Delay in Cabinet expansion

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. So far, only Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis have been managing the affairs of the state. Incidentally, the erstwhile Uddhav Thackeray-led Cabinet had only 6 Ministers- Subhash Desai, Chhagan Bhujbal, Jayant Patil, Balasaheb Thorat, Nitin Raut and Eknath Shinde for the first 32 days after the formation of the MVA government in 2019. 

On August 3, Eknath Shinde camp spokesperson Deepak Kesarkar declared that the Maharashtra Cabinet expansion will take place by August 7. Speaking to the media, he stated the exact date for inducting new Ministers would be revealed by Eknath Shinde. His clarification came a day after an NCP delegation led by Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and former Deputy CM Ajit Pawar complained to Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari about the problems faced by the people owing to the delay in Cabinet expansion. However, the Cabinet expansion didn't take place in the previous week.

A day earlier, Devendra Fadnavis affirmed that the Cabinet will be expanded even before the date anticipated by the media. He stated, "The Supreme Court has nowhere said that we can't expand the Council of Ministers. There is no link between the hearing in the SC and the Cabinet expansion. We will expand the Cabinet very soon. We will do it even before the date that you expect". Chiding Ajit Pawar for his criticism, he also cleared the air on secretaries getting quasi-judicial powers in the absence of Ministers in the Cabinet.