According to recent reports, Ajit Pawar, a prominent leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), has been assigned the crucial Finance and Planning portfolio in the state of Maharashtra. This development comes nearly two weeks after Pawar's controversial decision to break away from the original party and assume the role of Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister's office, under Eknath Shinde, issued a statement confirming the allocation of portfolios to eight other NCP ministers who were sworn in on July 2. As per the statement, Dhananjay Munde has been entrusted with the responsibility of Agriculture, while Dilip Walse-Patil will serve as the cooperation minister.

Additionally, the statement disclosed the ministries assigned to the remaining NCP ministers. Hasan Mushrif has been designated as the Minister of Medical Education, Chhagan Bhujbal as the Minister of Food and Civil Supplies, Dharmrao Atram as the head of Food and Drugs Administration, Sanjay Bansode as the Minister of Sports, Aditi Tatkare as the Minister of Woman and Child Development, and Anil Patil as the Minister of Relief, Rehabilitation, and Disaster Management.

With the inclusion of these nine NCP ministers, the total number of cabinet ministers in Maharashtra has now reached 29. However, it is worth noting that objections were reportedly raised by Shiv Sena MLAs led by Eknath Shinde regarding the allocation of the Finance and Planning portfolio to Ajit Pawar.

Meanwhile, an interesting milestone has been achieved with the induction of Aditi Tatkare into the Shinde government. For the first time, a woman MLA has been accorded a cabinet berth in Shinde government. Prior to this elevation, Tatkare had held the position of Minister of State with various portfolios in the same government Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

As per the latest reports, this allocation of portfolios aims to distribute responsibilities and streamline the functioning of the government in Maharashtra, amidst the ongoing political dynamics and power-sharing arrangements within the rival MVA alliance.

Image source: HT