The last time BJP and Sena were in power was during 1995-99 when Sena had the CM's post and BJP the deputy CM's post. This is the first time in the state that a party sitting in opposition--albeit for a short duration-is switching sides.On Oct 31, Fadnavis and nine of his party colleagues had been sworn in.
The allocation of portfolios in the expanded council of ministers happened on Saturday— 48 hours before the winter session—and saw the Shiv Sena corner plum portfolios, like industries, environment, transport. Political observers attributed the delay in portfolio finalization to the tension between BJP and Shiv Sena. The delay after Friday’s expansion left the new ministers with hardly any time to get a hang of their departments or to prepare for Question Hour on Monday in Nagpur, said sources.
The CM retained the crucial portfolios of home, urban development, law and judiciary, and information. The posts of MoS for home (rural) and home (urban) too went to BJP men, Ram Shinde and Ranjit Patil, respectively. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had expanded his council of ministers on Friday after the Shiv Sena decided to move from the Opposition to the government.
To make matters worse for the bureaucracy , several newly inducted ministers raced back to their constituencies on Saturday to celebrate with their supporters back home; among these were Girish Bapat, Girish Mahajan and Dadaji Bhuse.
As the expanded cabinet reflects a definite Vidarbha tilt, Fadnavis seems to have had his way while choosing his ministers.
Among the the Shiv Sena ministers of state, Sanjay Rathod got revenue while Dadaji Bhuse was given the cooperation department.
Chandrakant Patil, the BJP strategist who played a key role in getting the Shiv Sena to join the Fadnavis ministry , is the cabinet minister for cooperation.
As MoS for water resources and water conservation department, Vijay Shivtare, the Shiv Sena MLA from Purandar in Pune district, will have to coordinate with Pankaja Munde, the cabinet rank minister for the department, to resolve the drinking water problems faced by Marathwada and Vidarbha after the less-than-sufficient monsoon in the two regions.
Deepak Kesarkar, who won the Sawantwadi assembly seat in Konkan as a Shiv Sena candidate, is the minister of state for finance and rural development.
Ravindra Waikar, the two time Shiv Sena MLA from Jogeshwari, is the minister of state for housing as well as higher and technical education. Senior BJP ministers Prakash Mehta and Vinod Tawde hold the housing and higher and technical education portfolios, respectively.
In the cabinet, BJP veteran Girish Bapat is the food and civil supplies minister, while senior party MLA Girish Mahajan is the water resources minister.
Chandrashekhar Bawankule, the three-time BJP MLA from Kamthi in Nagpur, got energy , while three-time party MLA from Partur in Jalna Babanrao Lonikar got water supply and sanitation.
Vijay Deshmukh of the BJP is minister of state for public works and transport, while BJP MLC Pravin PotePatil is minister of state for industries, mining and environment.
Both Pote-Patil and minister of state for home (urban) Ranjit Patil are considered to be close to CM Fadnavis; both are MLCs and belong to Vidarbha.
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