Cabinet expansion in Maharashtra today: 18 ministers may be sworn in; Shinde called a meeting to decide the name from his quota

In Maharashtra, 39 days after the swearing-in of CM Eknath Shinde, the expansion of the cabinet will take place at 11 am on Tuesday. Just before this extension, Eknath Shinde has called a meeting of all Shiv Sena MLAs at Sahadri Bungalow. In this, the names of possible ministers of Shiv Sena will be announced. At the same time, BJP has finalized the names of all its ministers in a meeting held late at night.

If sources are to be believed, 18 ministers can take oath in the ceremony to be held in the Durbar Hall of Raj Bhavan. A 50-50 percent formula has been agreed upon between the two parties. Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis took oath as chief ministers and deputy chief ministers on June 30.

Many opposition leaders have also been invited to this swearing-in ceremony. It also includes former deputy CM Ajit Pawar and NCP state president Jayant Patil. Apart from this, Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Raosaheb Danve have also been invited.

Cabinet expansion approved by Delhi High Command

There was a meeting between Shinde and Fadnavis on Monday regarding cabinet expansion. All the formalities have also been completed by Delhi High Command. Overall, everything has been finalized regarding the new cabinet.

Sudhir Mungantiwar, Chandrakant Patil, Girish Mahajan can be included in the cabinet from the BJP camp. On the other hand, Gulab Rao Patil, Sada Savarkar, and Deepak Kesarkar can be given a chance from the Shinde camp. According to sources, the Home Department may be given to Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis.

Monsoon session of the assembly from Wednesday

The monsoon session of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly will be held from August 10 to 18. The Legislature Secretariat has canceled the holidays for preparations ahead of the monsoon session. According to an order issued by the secretariat on Monday, all leave of employees between August 9 and 18 has been canceled and they have been asked to remain present in the office.

2 months in Telangana, then in Karnataka there was no cabinet expansion for 3 weeks

After becoming the CM of Telangana on December 13, 2018, K. Chandrashekhar Rao had not expanded the cabinet for more than two months. He ran the government for 68 days with Interior Minister Mohammad Mahmood. Later on February 19, 2019, the cabinet expansion took place.

At the same time, the then Chief Minister of Karnataka BS Yediyurappa ran the government alone for 3 weeks after forming the government on July 26, 2019. Maharashtra Deputy CM Fadnavis said on the delay in cabinet expansion that the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government worked with a 7-member cabinet for 40 days.

Hearing on 'Shivsena Kis' on August 12

The hearing in the Supreme Court on the issue of power over Shiv Sena and disqualification of 16 rebel MLAs has been postponed. The matter will now come up for hearing on August 12. Should the matter be referred to a five-judge bench or not? Arguments in this regard will also be heard.

On the last hearing four days ago, the CJI had told the counsel for the Election Commission that both the parties can give an affidavit in the Election Commission on Monday i.e. today. If any party demands time, the Commission shall consider it.

Also Read: The wait is over, the cabinet expansion of Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis's government will happen tomorrow in Maharashtra