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Journalism of Courage
After the Supreme Court verdict on Maharashtra’s political crisis which has led to the survival of Ekanth Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government, decks have now been cleared for the probable expansion of the Shinde-Fadnavis government which was sworn in August 2022.
The first Cabinet expansion of the state government took place in August 2022, almost 40 days after Shinde and Fadnavis were sworn in as CM and Deputy CM respectively.
Nine MLAs each from both the parties BJP and Shinde were inducted in the Cabinet then.
The 20 member cabinet however, has no representation from Independent MLAs who have supported the government or any female representation.
According to sources in the government, the uncertainty over the survival of the government post-court order was one of the reasons to not undertake the cabinet expansion.
“Some will get entry into cabinet and those who won’t, might have turned sour. It forced us not to go ahead with the expansion,” a leader from the Shiv Sena said.
With court order in Shinde’s favour, the government appears to be stable now and in a bid to boost the party organisation, the Sena is likely to force for the expansion.
The state government was also under criticism for not including a single woman minister in its 20-member cabinet.
Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar has been criticising the government over this issue with both Shinde and Fadnavis assuring to make amends soon. In addition, independents supporting the party too have been hoping to join the cabinet.
The state cabinet presently has 18 cabinet minister, excluding CM and deputy CM. Each of the cabinet minister is handling multiple departments and has the responsibility of more than one district as a guardian minister.
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