Maharashtra: Shiv Sena Struggles To Finalise Cabinet Berths Amid Last-Minute Changes Ahead of Mahayuti Govt Swearing-In

Mumbai: On Saturday, the premises of the Nagpur Raj Bhavan witnessed frantic activities to host the much-expected swearing-in of the Mahayuti government. But the last-minute changes to the list of probable names make the ministerial aspirants nervous. The list of the ministers finalised by the party's central leadership has been witnessing last-minute changes till late evening on Saturday.

The Shiv Sena list is particularly the one which has seen several changes, thanks to the interventions by the BJP leaders in Delhi, say sources closely following the developments.

First, the party was asked to drop big names such as Abdul Sattar, Sanjay Rathod, Tanaji Sawant and Deepak Kesarkar. When they were replaced by new faces such as Pratap Sarnaik, Sanjay Shirsat, Bharat Gogavale and Rajesh Kshirsagar, objections were believed to have been raised over the first three names.

Last-minute efforts were made by Deputy Chief Minister Ekanth Shinde to convince the BJP leaders to approve the names finalised by the Shiv Sena.