Fadnavis keeps Home; Shinde gets Urban Development, Pawar finance

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday allocated portfolios to his council of ministers, retaining the crucial Home Department with him. Fadnavis will also handle energy, law and judiciary, general administration department and information and publicity departments, an official statement said here.

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Deputy CM Eknath Shinde has been allocated urban development, housing and public works department (public enterprises). Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar, another Deputy CM, got finance and planning, and state excise.

The portfolios were allocated after the week-long winter session of the state Legislature, which ended here earlier in the day.

The Mahayuti alliance of the BJP, NCP and Shiv Sena swept the November 20 Assembly elections, winning 230 of 288 seats. As many as 39 ministers had been sworn in on December 15, before the start of the session, while Fadnavis and his two deputies had taken the oath of office on December 5.

Portfolios allocated to BJP ministers are — Chandrashekhar Bawankule (revenue), Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil (water resources- Krishna and Godavari Valley Development Corporation), Chandrakant Patil (higher and technical education, parliamentary affairs), Girish Mahajan (water resources - Vidarbha, Tapi, Konkan Development Corporation and disaster management). Besides, Ganesh Naik has been given forests, and Mangal Prabhat Lodha has got skill development, employment, entrepreneurship and innovation. Jaykumar Raval will manage marketing and protocol, Pankaja Munde will be in-charge of environment and climate change, animal husbandry; Atul Save OBC welfare, dairy development and renewable energy.

Ashok Uike has been given tribal development, Ashish Shelar cultural affairs and information technology, Shivendrasinh Bhosale public works. Jaykumar Gore has been given rural development and panchayati raj, Sanjay Savkare textiles, Nitesh Rane fisheries and ports, and Akash Fundkar labour.

Shiv Sena Minister Gulabrao Patil has been allocated water supply and sanitation; Dadaji Bhuse (school education), Sanjay Rathod (soil and water conservation), Uday Samant (industries and Marathi language),  Shambhuraj Desai (tourism, mining, ex-servicemen welfare), Sanjay Shirsat social justice, Pratap Sarnaik transport, Bharat Gogawale employment guarantee, horticulture,  Salt Pan Lands development; Prakash Abitkar public health and family welfare.