Odishatv Bureau

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray expanded his Cabinet by inducting 35 ministers including his son Aditya, comprising 25 of Cabinet and 10 of Minister of State rank, here on Monday.

As anticipated, senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar was sworn-in as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra for a record fourth time.

This is for the fourth time that the 60-year-old Ajit Pawar – nephew of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar - has become the Deputy Chief Minister – the first being in November 2010, then October 2012, later in November 2019 for barely 80 hours, and again on Monday.

Aditya Thackeray has been made a Cabinet minister along with other Maha Vikas Aghadi heavyweights like former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, ex-Leader of Opposition in Council Dhananjay Munde, ex-Speaker Dilip Walse-Patil, and NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik.

The Cabinet has three women: NCP's Aditi Tatkare (MoS) and Congress' Varsha Gaikwad and Yashomati Thakur, both Cabinet rank - though the Sena has no woman nominee.

For the first since 2014, the ministry has a four Muslims - Shiv Sena's Abdul Sattar Nabi (MoS), NCP's Malik and Hasan Mushrif, and Congress' Aslam Shaikh, all Cabinet rank.

Other big names include Anil Parab, Vijay Wadettiwar, Jitendra Awhad, Anil Deshmukh, Amit Vilasrao Deshmukh, Rajesh Tope, and MoS Satej Patil, Vishwajeet Kadam and Bachu Kadu.

The new ministers were sworn-in by Governor B.S. Koshyari at the Maharashtra Legislature Complex, Nariman Point.

Since six ministers took the oath on November 28 along with Thackeray, today's expansion has taken the strength of his ministry to 41, plus the Chief Minister.

(IANS)

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