Devendra Fadnavis likely to expand his Council of Ministers

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is likely to expand his Council of Ministers before the Winter Session of the state legislature, scheduled from December 7 in Nagpur.

"There are 12 vacancies at present in the Council of Ministers. Out of the 12 vacancies, two will go to Shiv Sena and four to the smaller allies. The Chief Minister will take a call on whether to fill up all the six vacancies from the BJP quota or keep two pending," state PWD Minister Chandrakant Patil told PTI.

"The expansion may happen before the Winter Session of the legislature," he said.

Fadnavis took oath as the Chief Minister on October 31, last year with seven Cabinet and two Ministers of State.

When Shiv Sena later joined the government, the strength of the ministry was increased from 10, including Chief Minister, to 30. At present, there are 20 minister from BJP and ten from Sena.

Rashtriya Samaj Party MLC Mahadev Jankar, Republican Party of India's Rajya Sabha MP Ramdas Athavale, Swabhimani Party's Lok Sabha MP Raju Shetti and Shiv Sangram MLC Vinayak Mete are seeking that their parties get ministerial slots.

As per the constitutional provisions, the Maharashtra Assembly, which has 288 MLAs, can have 42 ministers, which is 15 per cent of the total strength.

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