Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis with Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde addresses the media on the last day of the Winter session of the State Assembly, at Vidhan Bhavan, in Nagpur, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (PTI Photo)
Notwithstanding the Mahayuti getting a clear mandate in the Maharashtra Assembly elections, the state has witnessed only confusion over the government formation for nearly a month. After delays in deciding the chief minister and Cabinet expansion, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has finally allocated Cabinet portfolios to his ministers. Bharatiya Janata Party has kept all key posts in the state, including the CM, home minister, Legislative Assembly Speaker and the Legislative Council Chairman with itself. But the delays in government formation suggest that the party is still not in complete control.
Mr Fadnavis was sworn in as the chief minister on December 5, which was 13 days after the election result. It took him another 10 days to form a full-fledged Cabinet. He has kept only one seat vacant in his Cabinet and yet eleven ministers from the Shinde Cabinet did not find a place in the Fadnavis Cabinet. Ajit Pawar-led NCP’s five ministers — Chhagan Bhujbal, Dharmarao Baba Atram, Sanjay Bansode, Dilip Walse Patil and Anil Patil — were dropped. BJP’s three ministers — Ravindra Chavan, Sudhir Mungantiwar and Vijaykumar Gavit as well as Shiv Sena’s Tanaji Sawant, Abdul Sattar and Deepak Kesarkar, were also left out.
Tensions started by the Cabinet formation were further escalated by the portfolio distribution. Some of the heavyweight ministers from the Shinde government have got less significant departments. State water resources department has been bifurcated and given to BJP’s Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil and Girish Mahajan.
NCP’s Dhananjay Munde, who was agriculture minister, has been given the food and civil supply department. In Mr Pawar’s words, “some are happy, some are unhappy.” with these decisions.
Mr Fadnavis has, however, managed to keep his deputies happy. Though he did not get the home ministry which he wanted, Mr Shinde has got two plum portfolios of Urban Development and Housing. Through the UD department, he can control the urban local bodies and key agencies like MMRDA, CIDCO and MSRDC.
Mr Pawar has retained his finance department, which gives him control over the state budget. Now that the trio has got what they wanted, they should run the government decisively. Otherwise their landslide victory will be meaningless.
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