Though reports began to circulate that the Mahayuti cabinet would be expanded on Sunday evening, an air of suspense lingered in the BJP camp till Monday morning. The prospective ministers were left to cool their feet as the call from Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis inviting them to take oath didn't come until 9 am.
The swearing-in ceremony of the cabinet will take place on Sunday at the Legislative Assembly in Nagpur.
The delay in announcing the names has triggered confusion and anger within the BJP camp though nobody wanted to publicly acknowledge it. Some believe the decision to not announce the names, under the pretext of getting the consent of the high command, was a ploy to make last-minute drops and inclusions.
Though the names of the prospective ministers have not been announced by any of the three parties yet, certain names are doing rounds.
BJP's Wardha MLA Pankaj Bhoyar is likely to get a Cabinet berth while Nitesh Rane from Kankavili and Madhuri Misal from Parvati have also been inducted into the Mahayuti cabinet. Other names include Jayakumar Gore (Maan), Meghna Bordikar (Jintur), Akash Fundkar (Khamgaon), Ashok Uike (Ralegaon) and Sanjay Savkare (Bhusawal).
Shivajinagar MLA Pankaja Munde too got a call to take oath.
#WATCH | Nagpur, Maharashtra: Ahead of state cabinet expansion, BJP national secretary Pankaja Munde says, "I am delighted that I am getting the opportunity to work in the team of CM Devendra Fadnavis once again. I express gratitude to PM Modi, Amit Shah, JP Nadda and… pic.twitter.com/6o0VopmtXp
— ANI (@ANI) December 15, 2024
Though the name of Shivendraraje Bhosale (Satara) is doing rounds, he told ANI that he had not got a call from the party leadership yet, but stated that he would abide by the decision of Fadnavis. "I have not received any phone call yet. Let's see what happens...Workers in the constituency do have expectations but everyone will abide by the decision of Devendra Fadnavis, whatever he decides," Bhosale said.
BJP MLA Girish Mahajan said he got a call from the state BJP chief announcing his selection as minister. "State BJP Chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule called me and told me that I have to take oath (as Maharashtra Minister) at 4 pm. I will take oath as the minister for the third time. I express gratitude to the party," Mahajan told ANI.
However, former ministers in the Shinde cabinet, Ravindra Chavan and Sudhir Mungantiwar, are not on the list of the new cabinet. The Cabinet will have a total of 19 new faces.
Speculations are that BJP will get 20 ministerial posts but only 12 will go to Shiv Sena. Shiv Sena MLA Bharatshet Gogawale said 12 MLAs from his party, including himself, will take oath as ministers of which seven are new faces. "Oath ceremony will take place at 4 pm today. So, we have all come to Nagpur. Seven people are new (who will take oath as ministers) and five are being repeated," Gogawale told ANI.
