Maharashtra Cabinet: Fadnavis Retains Home, Shinde Gets PWD, Urban Development Portfolios

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis retained the Home department in the state cabinet, while deputies Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar bagged important portfolios like Public Works and Finance respectively.

The allocation of portfolios among the ministers and ministers of state was issued by Governor CP Radhakrishnan on Saturday evening, a week after leaders were sworn into office in Nagpur.

The Home department, which has the state police and intelligence agencies under its fold, was a priced portfolio that became a sore point between allies Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena.

As per reports, after Shinde was made to join the government as a deputy CM, the party was bargaining hard with its senior ally for the Home department. The BJP staked claimed on the portfolio, which Fadnavis held in his two previous stints as chief minister.

Fadnavis also has energy (excluding renewable energy), law and judiciary, general administration, information and publicity and departments not alloted to any other minister.

Besides PWD, Eknath Shinde will be in-charge of urban development and housing departments — giving him considerable sway over metros of Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and his home turf of Thane.

Nationalist Congress Party chief Ajit Pawar will handle finance and planning as well as state excise departments.

Other notable leaders like BJP's Ashish Shelar has got Information Technology and Cultural Affairs; Shiv Sena heavyweight Uday Samant has got Industries and Marathi Language; state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule will handle revenue department.

The Mahayuti alliance won a landslide victory in the Maharashtra aseembly election in November. Fadnavis, Shinde and Pawar took their oath of office in Mumbai earlier this month.