Mumbai, Jan 5: The much-awaited distribution of portfolios for 32 Cabinet Ministers and 10 Ministers of State was carried out by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray with Nationalist Congress Party getting the significant assignments like Finance and Home, here on Sunday.
In what was described as “an equitable allocation” of responsibilities in the 43-member strong ministry, Chief Minister Thackeray will handle General Administration, IT, Information & Public Relations, Law & Judiciary and other departments not given to any other minister.
NCP’s Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is the new Finance Minister, his party colleague Anil V. Deshmukh is the new Home Minister, and Jitendra Awhad gets the Housing Ministry.
Shiv Sena’s Aditya Thackeray has been assigned Environment, Tourism & Protocol, senior colleague Subhas Desai will handle Industries and Mining Ministry, and Eknath Shinde is the new Urban Development & PWD (Public Undertakings) Minister.
From the Congress, Balasaheb Thorat will handle the Revenue Department, Nitin Raut will handle Energy Ministry, and ex-CM Ashok Chavan has been given the PWD Ministry.
The other important Cabinet portfolios allocated are:
Shiv Sena: Dadaji D. Bhuse – Agriculture, Uday Samant – Higher & Technical Education, Sanjay D. Rathod – Forest, Disaster Management, R&R, Gulabrao Patil – Water Supply & Sanitation, Sandipanrao Bhumre – Employment Guarantee & Horticulture, Anil Parab – Transport & Parliamentary Affairs, Shankarrao Gadakh (KSK Part) a” Soil & Water Conservation.
NCP: Chhagan Bhujbal – Food & Civil Supplies, Jayant Patil – Water Resources & Command Area Development, Dhananjay P. Munde – Social Justice & Special Assistance, Dilip Walse-Patil – Labour & State Excise, Nawab M. Malik – Minority Development & Wakf, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Hasan Mushrif – Rural Development, Rajendra Shingane – Food & Drugs Administration, Public Health & Family Welfare, Rajesh Tope – Public Health & Family Welfare, Balasaheb P. Patil a” Cooperation & Marketing.
Congress: Varsha Gaikwad – School Education, Sunil Kedar – Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development, Sports & Youth Welfare, Vijay Wadettiwar – OBCs and all other backward classes, nomadic tribes, Khar lands development & Earthquake Rehabilitation, Amit V. Deshmukh – Medical Education & Culture, K. C. Padvi – Tribal Development, Aslam R. Shaikh – Textiles, Fisheries and Ports Development, Yashomati Thakur-Sonawane a” Women & Child Development.
Among the 10 Ministers of State (MoS) are:
Shiv Sena’s Abdul Sattar Nabi who has got Revenue & Rural Development, Shamburaj Desai – Home (Rural), Omprakash alias Bachu Kadu – Water Resources, Command Area Development, School Education, etc., and Rajendra Yadravkar (Independent MLA) – Public Health, FDA, etc.
NCP’s Dattatray Bharne has been allocated Public Works (excluding Public Undertakings), Forests, etc., Sanjay Bansode – Environment, Water Supply & Sanitation, etc., Prajakt Tanpure – Urban Development, Energy, etc., and Aditi S. Tatkare – Industries, Tourism, etc.
Congress’ Satej Patil has been given Home (Urban) and Vishwajit P. Kadam – Agriculture, Cooperation, etc.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising an alliance of Sena-NCP-Congress was sworn-in on November 28 with Chief Minister Thackeray and six ministers, followed by cabinet expansion on December 30, taking the ministry to the full strength of 43.
Thereafter for a week, there was a big tussle among the three partners over the portfolios, which was amicably settled on Saturday and Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari granted his assent on Sunday (Jan 5).
