Fadnavis expands ministry; NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal inducted
Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday expanded his five-month-old cabinet with the induction of NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal as a minister. With Bhujbal's induction, the state government has 39 ministers, including 19 from the BJP, Shiv Sena 11 and NCP nine. Bhujbal, 77, was sworn in by Maharashtra Governor C P Radhakrishnan at Raj Bhavan in the presence of Deputy Chief Ministers Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde and other senior leaders. "All's well that ends well," the veteran leader said on the occasion, adding that he did not aspire for any particular portfolio. Bhujbal, who has had a distinguished and eventful political career spanning several decades, was not included when Fadnavis first expanded his cabinet in December last year. At the time, his exclusion from the cabinet had drawn public disappointment from the seasoned leader, a prominent OBC face in the state.
His induction in the cabinet follows the resignation of Dhananjay Munde, a fellow NCP heavyweight who stepped down as the food, civil supplies and consumer protection minister in March after the arrest of his close aide Walmik Karad in sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh murder case. Reacting to the development, Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange questioned Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's decision to promote a leader who has consistently opposed reservation for the Maratha community. "Ajit Pawar must realise the implications of promoting those who have spread casteism and vehemently opposed Maratha reservation," Jarange told reporters at Antarwali Sarathi village. The activist, who has been demanding quota for Marathas under the OBC category, called Bhujbal's induction a temporary relief ahead of the upcoming local body elections. Jarange further accused Fadnavis of systematically side-lining prominent Maratha leaders. Bhujbal has been a vocal opponent of Jarange's demand for quota for Marathas under the OBC category and has launched scathing attacks against the reservation push.
