As expected, former Congress face and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil took oath as minister in Devendra Fadnavis government as part of its cabinet expansion.
The Maharashtra cabinet expansion took place Sunday a day before the monsoon session of the state legislature and four months ahead of the Assembly polls.
As expected, former Congress face and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil took oath as minister in Devendra Fadnavis government as part of its cabinet expansion. Ashish Shelar also took oath as minister in presence of CM Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai.
Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil sworn in as a minister in the state in Fadnavis government. Vikhe Patil, who was leader of opposition in the state Assembly, resigned from the Congress recently.
His son Sujay Vikhe Patil is the BJP MP from Ahmednagar Lok Sabha seat in the state.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra housing minister Prakash Mehta and five other state ministers quit their posts, an official in the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said.
Besides Mehta, the others who resigned as ministers are Rajkumar Badole, Vishnu Sawra, Dilip Kamble, Praveen Pote and Amrish Atram. The chief minister has accepted their resignations, the official added.
A total of 13 leaders are expected to sworn-in as minister in the Fadnavis government. 10 leaders are likely going to be from the BJP, 2 from Shiv Sena and one leader from the RPI.
While the cabinet expansion took place today, ministers including Rajkumar Badole, Prakash Mehta, Vishnu Savara, Dilip Kamble, Pravin Pote and Ambrishrao Atram resigned from the state cabinet.
In the last few days, both Fadnavis and finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar had given enough indications about cabinet expansion.
Earlier, Friday night, Fadnavis had met Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and discussed about the ministers to be inducted in his cabinet.
"I met Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray at his residence Matoshri and discussed in detail cabinet expansion," Fadnavis had tweeted late Friday night.
The Republican Party of India (Athawale) Saturday announced that its leader Avinash Mahatekar will be inducted into the Fadnavis government in Sunday's expansion.
Currently, there are 37 ministers including the chief minister, and Fadnavis can accommodate another five.
A vacancy was created in 2018 when BJP's Pandurang Fundkar died, the then agriculture minister. The portfolio is now being handled by revenue minister Chandrakant Patil.
(With inputs from ANI and PTI)
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 "Former Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil takes oath as minister in Fadnavis govt")
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