Summary:
Mumbai, Aug 9 (PTI) The much-delayed expansion of the 41-day-old Maharashtra ministry saw as many as 17 former ministers taking oath on Tuesday.
Of the 18 ministers sworn in at the Raj Bhavan ceremony, only one has become a minister for the first time.
There is no woman in the list.
The new ministers include Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Rathod, who was the forest minister when Uddhav Thackeray was the Chief Minister, and was forced to resign after BJP leaders blamed him for a woman"s suicide.
The new ministers include state BJP president Chandrakant Patil (63), who is a two-term MLC and first-term MLA from western Maharashtra.
He was Revenue and PWD minister during 2014-19.
Girish Mahajan (62) is a BJP leader from north Maharashtra and has won Assembly elections six consecutive times.
He is known for his proximity with Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis.
Sudhir Mungantiwar (60) is a six-term BJP MLA from Vidarbha’s Chandrapur district.
He served as finance and forest minister during 2014-19.
Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil (63) is a seven-term MLA from Ahmednagar district.
He was the leader of opposition in Assembly while in Congress during 2014-19 but won the 2019 Assembly election on BJP ticket.
Ravindra Chavan (51) of BJP is a three-term MLA from Thane district.
He served as a minister of state during 2014-19.
Vijaykumar Gavit (67) is a five-term MLA, who left NCP in 2014 to join the BJP.