Congress MLA Aslam Shaikh was on Monday sworn in as a member of the Maharashtra cabinet along with 34 others.
Welcoming the expansion, the ruling allies Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress leaders termed it as a "well-balanced" exercise by Thackeray giving appropriate representation to all sections, communities and regions in the state.
However, leaders of various smaller allies expressed their displeasure saying they were not given any ministerial berths nor invited for the swearing-in ceremony by the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
Speaking to mediapersons later, Thackeray said the cabinet portfolios would be allocated within a couple of days.
Shaikh incidentally had earlier sought clemency for 1993 blast convict Yakub Memon. He was one of the Congress MLAs at the time who had written to the then President, Pranab Mukherjee.
The Shiv Sena however was not of the same mind. Then a part of the BJP-coalition, the party had welcomed the verdict.
According to reports however, the BJP has protested against his induction into the cabinet on Monday. Reportedly, the BJP wondered if the Sena had forgiven Shaikh and by extension, Memon.
Today, as a part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, several other leaders from the Congress and NCP and Sena were also sworn in.
The cabinet has three women -- NCP's Aditi Tatkare (MoS) and Congress' Varsha Gaikwad and Yashomati Thakur, both Cabinet rank -- though the Sena has no woman representative in the government for the present.
For the first since the previous Bharatiya Janata Party-led government which ruled 2014-2019, the Thackeray ministry has a surprising four Muslims -- Shiv Sena's Abdul Sattar Nabi (MoS), NCP's Malik and Hasan Mushrif and Congress' Aslam Shaikh, all Cabinet rank.
The other heavyweights in the cabinet are Congress ex-chief minister Ashok Chavan, ex-NCP Leader of Opposition in Council Dhananjay Munde, ex-Speaker Dilip Walse-Patil, and NCP National Spokesperson Nawab Malik.
All the new ministers were sworn in this afternoon by Governor B.S. Koshyari outside the Maharashtra Legislature Complex, Nariman Point.
Welcoming the expansion, the ruling allies Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress leaders termed it as a "well-balanced" exercise by Thackeray giving appropriate representation to all sections, communities and regions in the state.
Leaders of various smaller allies however expressed their displeasure saying they were not given any ministerial berths nor invited for the swearing-in ceremony by the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
Speaking to mediapersons later on Monday, Thackeray said the cabinet portfolios would be allocated within a couple of days.
Earlier, on November 28, Thackeray had taken the oath along with six other ministers -- Eknath Shinde, Subhash Desai (both Sena), Jayant Patil, Chhagan Bhujbal (NCP), Balasaheb Thorat and Nitin Raut (Congress).
After today's expansion the total strength of the ministry goes up to 43, including Thackeray and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
(With inputs from agencies)
