Maharashtra Cabinet expansion likely this weekend

Mumbai: Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who made organizational appointments to his group of rebel Shiv Sena and Independent MLAs on Wednesday, will likely expand his cabinet over the weekend. While his scheduled visit to New Delhi was cancelled at the last moment on Wednesday, given the hectic schedule of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Shinde may finalize his list of cabinet colleagues in consultation with the Delhi high command either in person or over the telephone, it is reliably learnt.

With just about 2.25 years remaining before the next general elections in April 2024, and even less time before the forthcoming civic elections across 23 municipalities in Maharashtra, Shinde is expected to focus on fresh faces, particularly from Mumbai, Thane and Pune for his faction’s cabinet colleagues. MLAs from the Thane-Palghar belt, including Shrinivas Chintaman (Palghar), Vishwanath Bhoir and Balaji Kinikar (both from Thane) are among the new faces being considered. The BJP grouping headed by Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis is similarly considering fresh faces from Mumbai, Thane and Pune with Ashish Shelar, Yogesh Sagar, Prasad Lad among the list of probables being vetted by the BJP high command in New Delhi.

“While the Shinde faction has high expectations of cabinet berths, considering the remaining tenure of the current dispensation, it may only be possible to have one more cabinet reshuffle (a year from now) before facing state assembly elections in 2024,” a person close to the development said. He added that political legacies counted for little in the template implemented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who effected a near 100% change in the council of ministers in Gujarat. “The PM and Amit Shahji are very clear on the subject and feel that the wheels of politics need to keep churning up new thoughts and actions through fresh political players. They accorded due respect and representation to BJP leaders emanating political legacies such as MLA Pankaja Munde (Gopinath Munde’s daughter), who was made a minister in 2014, MP Poonam Mahajan (Pramod Mahajan’s daughter) who was made general secretary of the BJP Yuva Morcha and Gopal Shetty,” the person said. “However, if their performance does not match expectations, they face the prospect of relegation as all three found out. Union Minister Anurag Thakur’s father was CM of Himachal Pradesh but faced relegation while his son is a Union Minister, whose performance will decide his longevity in the Union Cabinet as well,” the person revealed.