Mahayuti Government Finalizes Portfolios: Fadnavis Retains Home, Shinde Gets Urban Development, Ajit Pawar Keeps Finance

The long-awaited portfolio distribution of the Mahayuti Government was finalized and announced on the last day of the winter session in Nagpur. The decision was made public during a press conference, an hour after a key tea meeting led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. This comes seven days after 33 cabinet ministers and six ministers of state took their oath of office.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis retained the coveted Home Ministry, a portfolio Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had reportedly aimed to secure. In addition to Home, Fadnavis retained Energy (excluding Renewable Energy), Law & Judiciary, General Administration, Information & Publicity, and other departments not allocated to any other minister.

Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, despite missing out on the Home Ministry, was allocated Urban Development, Housing, and Public Works (Public Enterprises). Meanwhile, the other Deputy Chief Minister, Ajit Pawar, retained key portfolios such as Finance & Planning and State Excise, reinforcing his dominance in economic matters.

BJP Ministers

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received significant portfolios, ensuring its stronghold within the alliance. Chandrashekhar Bawankule took charge of Revenue, while Radhakrushna Vikhe-Patil retained Water Resources (Godavari & Krishna Valley Development Corporation). Chandrakant Patil was given Higher & Technical Education along with Parliamentary Affairs, and Girish Mahajan was assigned Water Resources (Vidarbha, Tapi, Konkan Development Corporation) and Disaster Management.

Pankaja Munde was tasked with handling Environment & Climate Change and Animal Husbandry, while Ganesh Naik was given Forests. Mangal Prabhat Lodha retained Skill Development, Employment, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, and Ashish Shelar was allocated Information Technology and Cultural Affairs. Other allocations included Shivendra Raje Bhosale for Public Works (Excluding Public Enterprises), Shivaji Kokate for Agriculture, Sanjay Savkare for Textiles, and Makarand Jadhav (Patil) for Relief & Rehabilitation. Nitesh Rane was given Fisheries and Ports, while Aakash Fundkar took charge of the Labour Ministry.

Shiv Sena Ministers

The Shiv Sena saw balanced portfolio allocations as well. Gulabrao Patil was given Water Supply & Sanitation, Dadaji Bhuse retained School Education, and Sanjay Rathod took charge of Soil & Water Conservation. Uday Samant was assigned Industries and Marathi Language, while Shambhuraj Desai was allocated Tourism, Mining, and Ex-Servicemen Welfare.

Other portfolios included Sanjay Shirsat for Social Justice, Pratap Sarnaik for Transport, Prakash Abitkar for Public Health & Family Welfare, and Bharat Gogawale for Employment Guarantee, Horticulture, and Salt Pan Land Development.

NCP Ministers

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) secured key ministries as part of the power-sharing agreement. Hasan Mushrif took over Medical Education, Dhananjay Munde retained Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Protection, and Jaykumar Rawal was assigned Marketing and Protocol. Atul Save took charge of OBC Welfare, Dairy Development, and Renewable Energy, while Ashok Uike was given Tribal Development.

Dattatray Bharane retained Sports & Youth Welfare and Minorities Development & Aukaf. Aditi Tatkare was assigned Women & Child Development, Jaykumar Gore retained Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, and Narhari Zirwal took over Food & Drug Administration and Special Assistance.

Ministers of State

Six Ministers of State were also assigned key portfolios. BJP’s Madhuri Misal was given Urban Development, Transport, Social Justice, Medical Education, and Minorities Development. Pankaj Bhoyar took charge of Home (Rural), Housing, and School Education, while Meghna Bhordikar was assigned Public Health, Water Supply, and Energy.

From Shiv Sena, Ashish Jaiswal was allocated Finance, Agriculture, and Relief & Rehabilitation, and Yogesh Kadam took charge of Home (Urban), Revenue, and Food & Drug Administration. NCP’s Indranil Nail was assigned Industries, Public Works, and Tourism.