Maharashtra cabinet expansion: Ajit Pawar takes reins of Finance Ministry

on July 2, Ajit Pawar, the nephew of Sharad Pawar, assumed the position of Deputy CM of Maharashtra for the third time since 2019.

The Maharashtra government announced the long-awaited cabinet expansion on July 14, with Ajit Pawar from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) being appointed as Minister of Finance.

Five other MLAs from the NCP faction have also been inducted into the cabinet, including Chhagan Bhujbal as the Minister of Food and Civil Supplies, Aditi Tatkare as the Minister for Women and Child Development, Dhananjay Munde as the Minister of Agriculture, Dilip Walse Patil as the Minister of Cooperation, and Anil Patel as the Minister of Relief and Rehabilitation.

This expansion took place weeks after the Ajit Pawar faction joined the ruling alliance of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde from the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Earlier on July 2, Ajit Pawar, the nephew of Sharad Pawar, assumed the position of Deputy CM of Maharashtra for the third time since 2019.

His decision to align with BJP came after his cousin, Supriya Sule, was announced as the working president of NCP, which is led by Sharad Pawar.

Ajit Pawar also expressed dissatisfaction with Uddhav Thackeray being projected as the face of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition.

During the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly Elections, BJP secured a victory with 105 seats, while the Shiv Sena, prior to its split, obtained 56 seats. Despite having a sufficient number of seats to form a government, disagreements arose between the two allies regarding power sharing.

As a result, Shiv Sena entered into negotiations with Congress and NCP to explore alternative alliances and government formation.