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38-member Maharashtra team in place at last

Rahi Gaikwad

There was delay but effort was to give stable government: Chavan

— Photo: PTI

COALITION GOVERNMENT: Maharashtra Governor S.C. Jamir (right) with Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal (left) at the swearing-in ceremony of the Ministers at the Raj Bhavan in Mumbai on Saturday.

Mumbai: Ashok Chavan was sworn in the Chief Minister of Maharashtra by Governor S.C. Jamir at the Raj Bhavan here on Saturday. Chhagan Bhujbal took the oath of office and secrecy as Deputy Chief Minister. The rest of the Ministry was also sworn in.

The newly formed Council has 38 Ministers — 18 from the Congress and 20 from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). There are 27 Cabinet Ministers and 11 Ministers of State.

The former Home Minister, R.R. Patil of the NCP, who had to resign in the aftermath of 26/11, has been reinstated in the Cabinet.

Several fresh faces have been inducted into the Ministry: Abdul Sattar Abdul Nabi, Padmakar Walvi and Ramesh Bagve from the Congress; Laxman Dhoble, Gulabrao Deokar, Sachin Ahir, Bhaskar Jadhav, Fauzia Khan and Prakash Solanke from the NCP.

NCP MLC Fauzia Khan and Congress MLA Varsha Gaikwad, both Ministers of State, are the only women in the Ministry.

The former Ministers of State, Naseem Khan, Suresh Shetty and Dr. Nitin Raut of the Congress and Hasan Mushriff of the NCP, were upgraded to the Cabinet rank.

Among those who missed the bus are Vijaysinh-Mohite Patil, Surupsinh Naik, Dilip Walse-Patil, Anees Ahmed, Vimal Mundada, Chandrakant Handore, Nawab Malik, Vinay Kore, Rajendra Shingane, Raviseth Patil, Madan Patil, Rameshchandra Bang, and Dilip Deshmukh.

Mumbai Congress president Kripa Shankar Singh, who won the Kalina seat and was reported to be pitching hard for a Cabinet berth, was also not inducted.

“Talks fruitful”

Speaking to the media after the oath-taking ceremony, Mr. Chavan said the fortnight-long discussions had borne fruit.

He thanked the people of Maharashtra for giving him the opportunity of becoming the Chief Minister in the State’s Golden Jubilee year (since its formation on May 1, 1960).

“We realise there was a delay, but our endeavour was to give Maharashtra a stable government,” Mr. Chavan said.

The new Cabinet will meet on Sunday and decide the schedule for the next Assembly session. The Ministers will be given their portfolios as well.

As for the swearing in of the MLAs, Mr. Chavan said he proposed that it be done in the first three days of the coming week.

He said the Speaker’s post would be with the NCP. The party has held it since 1999.

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