NAGPUR: After being delayed owing to the squabble between the BJP and the Shiv Sena over the distribution of the key departments, the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra, headed by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, inducted 39 ministers, including 18 first-time MLAs, from allies Shiv Sena and the NCP. This brings the cabinet strength to 42, just one short of the maximum limit of 43 ministers.

Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan administered the oath of secrecy and integrity to the new ministers in a swearing-in ceremony held in Nagpur on Sunday. The cabinet was finalized ten days after Fadnavis was sworn in as the Chief Minister, with Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar as his deputies.

Among those sworn in were 19 ministers from the BJP. Their names are - Chandrashekar Bawankule, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Chandrakant Patil, Girish Mahajan, Ganesh Naik, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Jaykumar Rawal, Pankaja Munde, Atul Save, Ashok Ramaji Wooike, Ashish Shelar, Shivendra Raje Bhosale, Jaykumar Gore, Sanjay Savkare, Nitesh Rane, Akash Pandurang Fundkar, Madhuri Misal, Meghana Bordikar, and Pankaj Bhoyar.

The Shiv Sena contributed 11 ministers to the cabinet, including - Uday Samant, Dada Bhuse, Sambhuraj Desai, Sanjay Rathod, Gulabrao Patil, Bharat Gogawale, Pratap Sarnaik, Prakash Abitkar, Ashish Jaiswal, Sanjay Shirsat, and Yogesh Kadam.

The NCP added nine ministers - Hasan Mushrif, Dhananjay Munde, Aditi Tatkare, Narhari Zirwal, Dattatray Bharne, Makarand Patil, Babasaheb Patil, Indraneel Naik, and Manikrao Kokate.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde congratulated all the MLAs from his party who took the oath as ministers. Posting about the ceremony on X, Shinde said, “On this occasion, I congratulated all the newly elected ministers and wished them all the best for their ministerial careers. I am fully confident that every Shiv Sena minister will remain committed to fulfilling the hopes and expectations of the common man in the state.”

Commenting on the development, Deputy Chief Minister and NCP chief Ajit Pawar assured that MLAs left out of the cabinet would also get an opportunity to serve as ministers in the new government. “We will give an opportunity to others also for two-and-a-half years,” Pawar said while addressing a gathering of his party workers in Nagpur.