PM Modi congratulates new Maharashtra ministers

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena leaders who took oath as ministers in the Maharashtra Cabinet on Tuesday.

"Congratulations to all those who took oath as ministers in the Maharashtra Government today. This team is a great blend of administrative experience and a passion to deliver good governance. My best wishes to them for serving the people of the state," PM Modi.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath told ANI that it is a small cabinet, the rest still remains to be formed, and those who were inducted into the state government will work full-fledged and take up the responsibility of their respective departments.
"Cabinet expansion took place today. Starting today, they will work full-fledged and take up the responsibility of their respective departments. The rest of the cabinet still remains (to be formed)," Shinde said.
The much-awaited expansion of the Maharashtra Cabinet took place today with a total of 18 MLAs -9 each from the BJP and from the Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction sworn in as ministers in a grand ceremony at Mumbai's Raj Bhavan.

The Cabinet expansion comes over 40 days after Chief Minister Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis were sworn in after a rebellion led by the former toppled the Udhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi-government in the state.
The BJP MLAs who took oath were - Chandrakant Patil, Sudhir Mungantiwar, Girish Mahajan, Suresh Khade, Radha Krishna Vikhe Patil, Ravindra Chavhan, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Vijaykumar Gavit and Atul Save.
Leaders from Shiv Sena inducted were - Dada Bhuse, Shambhuraje Desai, Sandeepan Bhumre, Uday Samant, Tanaji Sawant, Abdul Sattar, Deepak Kesarkar, Gulabrao Patil and Sanjay Rathod.
MLAs of the Eknath Shinde camp arrived at Sahyadri Guest House in Mumbai this morning to attend a meeting.
On June 30, Shinde had taken oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister and Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy. (ANI)