Maharashtra cabinet expansion today; MLAs brace for surprises

The Shinde Sena and BJP have chosen to defuse the uncertainty by expanding the two-member Cabinet on Tuesday, five weeks after Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis took oath in a high-voltage political drama.

Though some surprises are expected from BJP, it is still expected to induct senior former ministers - Chandrakant Patil, Sudhir Mungantiwar, Girish Mahajan, Suresh Khade and Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil - in the new team, which could be 14 to 18 in strength, with equal share for the two parties. The formula will change when the council of ministers is packed to capacity of 43 in another expansion. Sources said the parties will try to have representatives from all revenue divisions so that the ministers could grace the Independence Day programme at the headquarters.

BJP's Mumbai representation was unclear because of strong claimants from the party's regional vote banks of Maharashtrians and north Indians ahead of the BMC polls. Among contenders from Mumbai are Ashish Shelar, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Rajhans Singh, Vidya Thakur and former opposition leader in the Council Praveen Darekar.

Shinde kept the cards close to his chest. He was expected to pick some from among former ministers Dada Bhuse, Gulabrao Patil, Uday Samant, Shambhuraj Desai and Sandipan Bhumre while Sanjay Shirsat, Bharat Gogawale and Suhas Kande were tipped as new faces. When asked about his team, Shinde told media persons that he had called his MLAs for a meeting on Tuesday wherein the names would be finalised. Shinde met senior leaders from his faction to discuss names late Monday night.