Mumbai: Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has said that the state cabinet shall be expanded very soon, even as he appears to have made arrangements for Independence Day flag hoisting in a manner to avoid any confrontation over the issue of guardian ministers.
Shinde, who is on a private tour of Satara district, said while interacting with the media, that dates for cabinet expansion will be decided soon. The issue had been lingering for a while and the BJP and Shiv Sena MLAs had been in waiting for almost a year even though NCP's nine MLAs were inducted into the cabinet on July 2.
CM successfully seemed to have successfully tackle guardian ministers issue
Apart from cabinet expansion, appointments of guardian ministers too is a contentious issue between the Shiv Sena under Shinde and the NCP under Ajit Pawar. However, Shinde seems to have skillfully tackled the issue of guardian ministers as of now, by issuing a clear list of ministers to preside over the official Independence Day ceremonies at each district headquarters.
In Pune, where people were particularly curious to which 'Dada' presides over the function, Governor Ramesh Bais will be hoisting the flag. BJP's Chandrakant Patil is the guardian minister of Pune, while Ajit Pawar, who hails from the district, is the deputy chief minister. However, according to the new government circular, Patil will preside over the function at Alibag (Raigad district) while Pawar will do so in Kolhapur.
Hasan Mushrif, who is guardian minister for Kolhapur will hoist the flag at Solapur.
Similar is the issue at Nashik where Dadaji Bhuse and Chhagan Bhujbal were contenders. However, both have been directed elsewhere. While Bhuse will go to Dhule, Bhujbal will be heading for Amravati. Function at Nashik will be taken care of by the divisional commissioner.
This approach has also resolved issue about Raigad, where Shinde camp is against guardian minister Aditi Tatkare. She will now be hoisting the flag at Palghar on Independence Day. In Thane, BJP's Ravindra Chavan will get the honour to hoist the flag.
List of guardian ministers who will be hoisting flags
Nagpur - Devendra Fadnavis, Amravati - Chhagan Bhujbal, Chandrapur - Sudhir Mungantiwar, Vashim - Dilip Walse Patil, Ahmednagar - Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Dhule - Dadaji Bhuse, Jalgaon - Gulabrao Patil, Thane - Ravindra Chavan, Solapur - Hasan Mushrif, Sindhudurg - Deepak Kesarkar, Ratnagiri - Uday Samant, Parbhani - Atyl Save, Aurangabad - Sandipan Bhumre, Sangli - Suresh Khade, Nandurbar - Vijaykumar Gavit, Osmanabad - Tanaji Sawant, Satara - Shambhuraj Desai, Jalna - Abdul Sattar, Yavatmal - Sanjay Rathod, Beed - Dhananjay Munde, Gadchiroli - Dharmarao Atram, Mumbai Suburb - Mangalprabhat Lodha, Latur - Sanjay Bansode, Buldana - Anil Patil, Palghar - Aditi Tatkare.
At all other places, district collectors or divisional commissioners will preside over the function. CM Shinde will hoist the flag in Mumbai.
