Nagpur, Dec 15 (Agency) Thirty-nine newly elected legislators of Mahayuti (grand alliance) took the oath as ministers in the Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra government in a programme held at Raj Bhavan here on Sunday. The much-awaited cabinet expansion finally took place on eve of the winter session of Maharashtra Assembly, which is due to commence here from Monday (tomorrow). It has created a history as the oath taking ceremony was held in Nagpur, the second capital of the state, after a gap of more than 30 years. Out of 39 ministers, 33 are of the Cabinet rank while the remaining are ministers of state. Among them 20 are new ministers including three women.
Of 39 inductees, 19 are from BJP, 11 from Shiv Sena (Shinde) and nine from NCP (AP). State BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule had personally called up many MLAs this morning and informed them about their ministerial positions, said BJP state spokesperson Sandeep Khardekar. Interestingly, two senior NCP (AP) leaders and former ministers like Chhagan Bhujbal and Dilip Walse-Patil, were not inducted in the ministry. Prominent leaders who took the oath are Chandrakant Patil, Hasan Mushrif, Dada Bhuse, Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Girish Mahajan, Sanjay Rathod, Madhuri Misal, Dhananjay Munde, Mangal Lodha and several others. Mangal Lodha took oath in Sanskrit, while Hasan Mushrif in the name of Allah and others took the names of Hindu deities while taking the oath.