Only five old ministers from Shiv Sena retain berths

Aaditya Thackeray was sworn in as a cabinet minister on Monday. Pic/Suresh Karkera

Finally, a month after Uddhav Thackeray took oath as the chief minister of Maharashtra, his cabinet was expanded on Monday at Raj Bhavan. While Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar took oath as deputy chief minister, Aaditya Thackeray, the CM's son, took oath as a cabinet minister. Only five Sena men, Dadaji Bhuse, Gulabrao Patil, Sanjay Rathod, Subhash Desai and Eknath Shinde, from the old cabinet kept their berths.

There were many faces from Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region at the oath-taking as cabinet ministers and ministers of state. Congress MLAs Varsha Gaikwad and Aslam Shaikh, NCP MLAs Jitendra Awhad and Nawab Malik, and Matoshree loyalist and Shiv Sena MLC Anil Parab also took oath as cabinet ministers.

The swearing-in ceremony at Raj Bhavan witnessed the presence of senior state leaders belonging to Shiv Sena, the NCP and Congress. Family members of those who took the oath as Cabinet ministers and ministers of state were also present. These included Aaditya's mother Rashmi and younger brother Tejas Thackeray.

NCP MP Supriya Sule was also present. A total of 26 MLAs took oath as cabinet ministers and 10 MLCs took oath as minister of state on Monday. There are only three women ministers in the cabinet. Congress MLAs Varsha Gaikwad and Yashomati Thakur were made cabinet ministers while NCP's Aditi Tatkare, daughter of NCP leader Sunil Tatkare, was made minister of state. In all 42 MLAs and MLCs have taken oath as cabinet ministers and ministers of state in Thackeray's cabinet.

26
No. of MLAs who took oath as cabinet ministers

Aaditya Thackeray, Shiv Sena MLA
The 29-year-old was the first member from the Thackeray family to contest an election. He won from the Worli assembly seat. He is the president of the Yuva Sena.

Anil Parab, Shiv Sena MLC
Nothing could have been a better birthday gift for the Matoshree loyalist and close confidante of Uddhav Thackeray. Parab, who took oath as cabinet minister, has been a vibhag pramukh for many years and looks after the party's day-to-day working.

Aslam Shaikh, Congress MLA
Congress MLA from Malad, Aslam Shaikh was said to have wanted to join the BJP-Sena before the elections. But he stayed with Congress and for the first time took oath as a cabinet minister.

Varsha Gaikwad, Congress MLA
Daughter of senior Congress leader Eknath Gaikwad, this is the second time Varsha has become a cabinet minister, and has a vast experience to her credit.

Jitendra Awhad, NCP MLA
Sharad Pawar loyalist Jitendra Awhad, who stayed with the party, though many leaders left it ahead of the assembly elections, has been rewarded with a cabinet berth. Awhad is a known face among the voters in the Mumbra-Kalwa constituency, which has Muslim pockets, and is also an important face of OBC leaders in the NCP.

Nawab Malik, NCP MLA
Mumbai NCP Chief and Spokesperson, Nawab Malik, is a known face of the party in the city and has a mass following among the voters in the minority community.

Abdul Sattar, Shiv Sena MLA
Former Cong leader from Marathwada who has a mass support base among Muslim voters, Abdul Sattar, was once a close confidante of former chief minister Ashok Chavan.

Independents

Bachchu Kadu, Shankarrao Gaddakh, Rajendra Yedravkar

Parties and ministers

Shiv Sena
Aaditya Thackeray, Anil Parab, Abdul Sattar, Dada Bhuse, Gulabrao Patil, Sandipan Bhumre, Sanjay Rathod, Shambhuraj Desai and Uday Samant.

NCP
Ajit Pawar, Nawab Malik, Dilip Walse Patil, Hasan Mushreef, Babasaheb Patil, Dutta Bharne, Prajakt Tanpure, Anil Deshmukh, Jitendra Awhad, Dhananjay Munde, Rajesh Tope, Dr Rajendra Shingne, Sanjay Bansode and Aditi Tatkare.

Congress
Ashok Chavan, Vijay Wadettiwar, Yashomati Thakur, Amit Deshmukh, Satej Patil, Vishwajeet Kadam, Aslam Shaikh, Varsha Gaikwad, KC Padvi and Sunil Kedar.

Sunil Raut unhappy?

The absence of Sena MP Sanjay Raut and his brother and MLA Sunil Raut at the swearing-in ceremony had tongues wagging. People wondered whether the Raut brothers were unhappy with the party as Sunil was not inducted in the cabinet. Sanjay Raut said, "Our people must stay a little patient. It's a matter of happiness that Uddhav Thackeray is CM."

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