The Maharashtra cabinet was sworn in on Sunday in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his deputies Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar. Governor CP Radhakrishnan administered oath to the ministers at Raj Bhavan in Nagpur.
The swearing-in of the state cabinet in Nagpur, which comes a day before the winter session of the legislature, marks a rare occasion as the last such ceremony in Nagpur happened in 1991, when the then governor C Subramaniam administered oath to Chhagan Bhujbal and other ministers.
The portfolio allocation to the ministers is expected to wrap up soon as the parties have just one day to ascertain the roles of the MLAs before the session kicks off.
The cabinet was sworn in ten days after Devendra Fadnavis took oath as chief minister at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the ceremony, which also saw Ajit Pawar from the NCP and former CM Eknath Shinde from Shiv Sena taking oath as deputy chief ministers.
The prolonged deliberations over portfolio allocations and last-minute Cabinet swearing-in could be attributed to Mahayuti’s challenges in balancing power with Shiv Sena and NCP factions, both eager to secure influential roles in the government.
In the state polls, the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance secured a decisive victory, winning 235 seats. The BJP emerged as the single-largest party with 132 seats, while Shiv Sena won 57 and NCP secured 41 seats. The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance faced a major setback, with Congress winning just 16 seats, Shiv Sena (UBT) securing 20, and the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) claiming only 10 seats.
