Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde New Cabinet To Be Decided After Special Assembly

New Delhi: While Eknath Shinde has taken the oath as the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra after a surprising turn of events in state politics, all eyes are now set on the new cabinet ministers and the distribution of portfolios. The allocation of ministries will be done after CM Eknath Shinde proves the majority in the Maharashtra Assembly session on Monday.

Devendra Fadnavis took the oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of the state as the BJP returned to power in Maharashtra with the support of MLAs of the Shinde faction of Shiv Sena. Now, the decision on forming a new cabinet under Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will be taken after holding a special two-day session of the state Assembly beginning Sunday, Maharashtra BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar said on Saturday.

The session will see the election of the Assembly Speaker on July 3 and a floor test of the new government on July 4.

“The decision to allocate portfolios will be taken once the two-day session is over. BJP leaders have been holding meetings with a focus on the two-day session. Once this session is over, the state leadership of both the parties (the BJP and the Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena) can decide about the allocation of portfolios,” he said.

Shinde took oath as the chief minister on Thursday with BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy following the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government on Wednesday. 

The  MVA government was toppled after a crisis was triggered by Eknath Shinde and a majority of Shiv Sena MLAs going against the Uddhav Thackeray-Sharad Pawar-Sonia Gandhi alliance.