A Dalit face from Miraj constituency in Sangli district, Khade, 64, is an RSS and BJP loyalist, who has successfully challenged the NCP and Congress in their fiefdoms since 2004. In the reshuffle ahead of the 2019 Assembly polls, he was asked to lead the social justice department. He missed the bus earlier despite a resounding win over the Congress and NCP in 2014. Pic/Twitter

Former minister of state for home in the Fadnavis team, Kesarkar, 67, is not a true blue sainik. He came from the NCP and insists that he chose the Sena over the BJP. He represents Sawantwadi that shares a state border with Goa (2009 onwards).

The former Congressman joined the Sena in 2018. Sattar, 57, had already developed differences with the party that had made him a junior minister. When it came to becoming Cabinet minister, a controversy regarding his daughters and son’s recruitment cropped up.

Education and business baron Sawant, 58, had shown his extraordinary skills in winning MLC polls from local bodies in Yavatmal which was unknown territory. Knowing his prowess, Thackeray had exported Sawant from Marathwada to Vidarbha. Pic/Facebook

Desai, 55, hails from Shinde’s native Satara district and represents Patan (since 2004). A die hard sainik in the NCP and Congress stronghold, Desai has been loyal to the Thackerays for long, but changed his mind when a coup came up. He was among the first batch and worked on others to join the rebellion. Pic/Facebook

Bhuse, 58, represents Malegaon Outer segment since 2004. The farmer’s son sans a political background ended the dominance of the Congress loyalist Hire family and never looked back since 2004. He served as a junior minister between 2014 and 2019. He was made agriculture minister in the MVA government. Pic/Facebook

Bhumre, 59, has been representing Paithan near Aurangabad since 1995. Defeated in 2009, he first became a minister in 2019 even as his juniors reaped perks of top positions. He worked as a slip boy in a sugar factory which he led as its chairman after some yearsa. Pic/Facebook

Uday Samant, the last to join the rebel Shinde gang in Guwahati had always been tipped to retain his position. He was higher and technical education minister in the MVA government. The Ratnagiri representative has been winning since 2004, first two terms as the NCP worker and then as the Sena’s. Pic/PTI

The Sena’s most sought after campaigner shifted to Shinde after he failed to convince Thackeray. Comes from Jalgaon Rural Assembly constituency. He was a minister of state in the Fadnavis government and later promoted by Thackeray in the MVA formation. He has contributed significantly to Sena’s growth in Khandesh. Pic/Facebook

A four-time MLA since 2004 (Digras) Rathod belongs to the Banjara community. Rathod, 51, kept the Sena’s saffron flag flying in central Vidarbha’s cotton-rich, farm suicide belt of Yavatmal district. He was given a clean chit in the suicide of a woman in Pune, but Thackeray did not retain him.

A real estate baron from Mumbai, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, 66,  has been representing Malabar Hill since 1995. He comes from an RSS loyalist family that held top posts in judiciary and politics. He made Mumbai his turf and succeeded in electoral politics, but had to wait very long to get in the Cabinet.

He is the son of Moreshwar Atul Save, Shiv Sena’s former Lok Sabha MP from Aurangabad, who shifted to the BJP after developing differences with the Sena leadership, which had sacked his father. Save, 60, represents Aurangabad (east) since 2014. The BJP has eyes on the city where it shared power with the Sena before parting ways.

A tribal leader and teacher-turned-politician, Gavit, 67, faced charges in a disproportionate assets case before joining BJP in 2014. He was sacked after his daughter Heena contested LS polls on a BJP ticket in 2014 from Nandurbar. Now in BJP, he won Assembly poll from Nandurbar same year. File Pic

Ravindra Chavan (51) of BJP is a three-term MLA from Thane district. He served as a minister of state during 2014-19. Pic/Twitter

The six-term undefeated MLA who has always foreseen power shifts,, was a minister in the Shiv Sena and Congress govts before moving to the BJP in mid-2019. He was the opposition leader then representing the Congress. He quit and was soon drafted as the housing minister by Fadnavis. Patil, 63, represents Shirdi segment in Ahmednagar district. File Pic

A firebrand six-term MLA, who represented Chandrapur and now Ballapur, he has served in the first (1995-99) and second BJP-Sena govts (2014-19). Born into an RSS family, he is a perennial CM contender, and led finance and forest departments in the Fadnavis regime. He is the only BJP minister from Vidarbha. Pic/PTI

Fadnavis’s blue-eyed boy, who emerged as the main troubleshooter. Mahajan beats others when it comes to protesting in the house. He was suspended often, but has friends across party lines. His passion for providing healthcare services to the needy landed him the medical education department though he led the water resources department. File Pic

State BJP president who was the number two minister holding many important portfolios like revenue, PWD, agriculture in the Fadnavis government. The 63-year-old hails from Kolhapur district, but contested the 2019 Assembly election from Kothrud in Pune. A die hard RSS loyalist.. File Pic