Chavan drops 5 ministers, takes 10 new faces

In its first major political decisions after the change of guard in the state, the Congress gave a strong signal that it wanted the political environment changed in the state in the run-up to the elections. Its ally, the NCP chose to retain most of its ministers of the outgoing Cabinet. The new Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Congressman Ashok Chavan, who was sworn in at the Raj Bhavan by Governor S C Jamir along with Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal NCP on Monday, dropped five ministers from the outgoing council of ministers of 39 NCP 21, Congress 14 and four Independents. Anil Deshmukh from the NCP, who held the PWD portfolio and was held to be a non-performer, was dropped, along with Congress leaders Satish Chaturvedi, Vasant Purke, Ranjit Kamble and Baba Siddiqui. Ten new members were also inducted.