Fadnavis ministry expansion on Dec 5, Sena may step in

Mumbai, December 3

The 33-day-old Devendra Fadnavis-led ministry in Maharashtra will be expanded on December 5, amid indications of a "patch up" with former ally Shiv Sena.

Around 20 ministers are likely to take oath at the ceremony, and almost half of them are expected to be those from Sena.

Fadnavis had met BJP president Amit Shah in New Delhi yesterday and is believed to have got the nod for BJP probables in the expansion exercise.

Among those in reckoning from BJP include senior legislators Girish Bapat (Pune) and Girish Mahajan (Jalgaon) and also Babanrao Lonikar and Sambhaji Patil Nilangekar, both from Marathwada.

The names of Sanjay Kute and Chainsukh Sancheti (both from Buldhana), Seema Hire and Devyani Farande (both Nashik), Jaykumar Rawal (Dhule), Govardhan Sharma (Akola), Madan Yerawar (Yeotmal) and Ram Shinde are doing rounds.

From Mumbai, there is speculation over inclusion of Mangal Prabhat Lodha, the Malabar Hill MLA, and Raj Purohit, who represents Colaba, and Ashish Shelar, the Bandra MLA, who is also the city BJP chief.

Presently, there are eight Cabinet rank and two Ministers of State in the ministry. PTI