Eknath Shinde expands Maharashtra Cabinet; list of new ministers

Weeks after toppling Uddhav Thackeray's government in a sensational takedown, Shiv Sena rebel Eknath Shinde expanded the Maharashtra Cabinet. He followed a 9+9 formula wherein equal number of Shiv Sena and BJP MLAs were accommodated in the Maharashtra Cabinet. 

BJP leaders who were sworn in as Maharashtra chief ministers are Chandrakant Patil, Sudhir Mungantiwar, Girish Mahajan, Suresh Khade, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Ravindra Chavhan, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Vijaykumar Gavit and Atul Save. 

Shiv Sena leaders who were sworn in are Dada Bhuse, Shambhuraje Desai, Sandeepan Bhumre, Uday Samant, Tanaji Sawant, Abdul Sattar, Deepak Kesarkar, Gulabrao Patil and Sanjay Rathaud. 

Shinde, the new Maharashtra Chief Minister, will have a tough time warding off discontent in the Sena faction led by him. 

After his coronation which took place over 40 days ago, the CM made seven visits to the national capital, where he apparently discussed Cabinet expansion with the BJP leadership.

Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Ajit Pawar claimed Shinde had promised a ministerial berth to every MLA who joined him.

"Now Shinde is unable to fulfil his promise, hence the delay in the cabinet expansion. The chief minister should disclose the reasons for the delay," he said.

With inputs from PTI