Maharashtra portfolios: Fadnavis keeps Home, 3 ministries for Eknath Shinde, Ajit Pawar gets Finance & Excise

Putting rest to all speculations, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on December 21 allocated portfolios to his council of ministers, retaining the key Home department. In addition to Home, Fadnavis will oversee the Energy, Law and Judiciary, General Administration, and Information and Publicity departments, according to an official statement. 

Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has been given responsibility for Urban Development, Housing, and the Public Works Department (Public Enterprises), while Ajit Pawar, the other Deputy Chief Minister, will handle Finance and Planning. Pawar has been alloted the additional charge of the Excise Department. 

The portfolio allocation came after the conclusion of the week-long winter session of the state Legislature. The swearing-in of 39 ministers occurred on December 15, ahead of the session, while Fadnavis and his two deputies took office on December 5. 

The Mahayuti alliance, consisting of the BJP, NCP and Shiv Sena, triumphed in the November 20 assembly elections, securing 230 out of 288 seats. 

Portfolios allocated to BJP ministers are: 

• Chandrashekhar Bawankule: Revenue 
• Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil: Water Resources and Krishna and Godavari Valley Development Corporation 
• Chandrakant Patil: Higher and Technical Education, Parliamentary Affairs 
• Girish Mahajan: Water Resources (Vidarbha, Tapi, Konkan Development Corporation) and Disaster Management 
• Ganesh Naik: Forests 
• Mangal Prabhat Lodha: Skill Development, Employment, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation 
• Jaykumar Raval: Marketing and Protocol 
• Pankaja Munde: Environment and Climate Change, Animal Husbandry 
• Atul Save: OBC Welfare, Dairy Development, and Renewable Energy 
• Ashok Uike: Tribal Development 
• Ashish Shelar: Cultural Affairs and Information Technology 
• Shivendrasinh Bhosale: Public Works 
• Jaykumar Gore: Rural Development and Panchayati Raj 
• Sanjay Savkare: Textiles 
• Nitesh Rane: Fisheries and Ports 
• Akash Fundkar: Labour 

Shiv Sena ministers were assigned these portfolios: 

• Gulabrao Patil: Water Supply and Sanitation 
• Dadaji Bhuse: School Education 
• Sanjay Rathod: Soil and Water Conservation 
• Uday Samant: Industries and Marathi Language 
• Shambhuraj Desai: Tourism, Mining, Ex-Servicemen Welfare 
• Sanjay Shirsat: Social Justice 
• Pratap Sarnaik: Transport 
• Bharat Gogawale: Employment Guarantee, Horticulture, Salt Pan Lands Development 
• Prakash Abitkar: Public Health and Family Welfare 

Portfolios for NCP ministers are as follows: 

• Hasan Mushrif: Medical Education 
• Dhananjay Munde: Food and Civil Supplies, Consumer Protection 
• Dattatrey Bharne: Sports, Youth Welfare, and Minority Development and Aukaf 
• Aditi Tatkare: Women and Child Development 
• Manikrao Kokate: Agriculture 
• Narhari Zirwal: Food and Drug Administration, Special Assistance 
• Makrand Patil: Relief and Rehabilitation 
• Babasaheb Patil: Cooperation 

Among the Ministers of State, Shiv Sena’s Ashish Jaiswal has been assigned Finance and Planning, Agriculture, Relief and Rehabilitation, Law and Judiciary and Labour. BJP’s Madhuri Misal will handle Urban Development, Transport, Social Justice, Medical Education, Minorities Development and Aukaf.Pankaj Bhoyar (BJP) will oversee Home (Rural), Housing, School Education, Cooperation, and Mining. BJP’s Meghana Bordikar has been given Public Health and Family Welfare, Water Supply and Sanitation, Energy, Women and Child Development, and Public Works (Public Enterprises). 

(With inputs from PTI)