Maharashtra Cabinet expansion: During oath ceremony, some leaders feel ‘left out’, others ask about ‘round 2’

All MLAs from the Shinde camp were called to the Sahyadri guest house at 9 am on Tuesday. But several Sena legislators from the Shinde faction were miffed as they didn’t get a ministerial berth, and some of them even skipped the swearing-in ceremony.

Names of ministers who were to take oath were written on the chairs on the dais of the Darbar Hall in Raj Bhavan. Many of the attendees were seen trying to take a closer look at the names, in a bid to find out who would be included in the state cabinet.

Shinde and Fadnavis arrived around 11 am, even as many of the attendees sought to know when the next round of portfolio allocation will take place.

While most leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi stayed away, Leader of Opposition in Assembly Ajit Pawar sprung a surprise by attending the ceremony. He was received warmly by many leaders of the Shinde faction and BJP, including Fadnavis and the Chief Minister himself.

Sena MLAs Sanjay Shirsat, Bharat Gogawale and Yamini Jadhav were among those who didn’t get a cabinet post but still attended the ceremony. When a BJP MLA asked Gogawale why he wasn’t given a ministerial post, he didn’t reply.

Two BJP MLAs, Girish Mahajan and Ravindra Chavan, who were in charge of transporting the rebel Sena MLAs from Mumbai to Surat, were rewarded with cabinet berths.

Some BJP MLAs, who joined the party recently, were also upset that Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, who joined the BJP from the Congress, was again made a minister. Some of those who took oath came for the ceremony with their families, including grandchildren. A few newly-appointed ministers were even heard telling the state chief secretary and key bureaucrats about the choice of cabins they wanted.

Shinde’s son Shrikant, a Member of Parliament, reached late for the ceremony as he was stuck in a traffic jam.

Even after the swearing-in ceremony was over, ministers from the Shinde camp were seen hovering near him, apparently to seek “good portfolios”.

Police and the state administration were very careful to allow only those who were invited inside Raj Bhavan. The Maharashtra government had hired an agency to live-stream the ceremony. Many supporters were stopped at Teen Batti.

Traffic police and the Mumbai Police had planned the bandobast for the last 15 days, said Additional Commissioner of Traffic Police, Mahesh Patil. No dhol tasha was allowed near Raj Bhavan premises for any kind of celebration.