The Republican Party of India (A) chief claimed that he was not invited to the oath-taking ceremony, which was attended by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his deputies Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar
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Union Minister Ramdas Athawale expressed his disappointment on Sunday over the absence of any representation from his party, the Republican Party of India (A), in the recent Maharashtra Cabinet expansion. Athawale, who had previously been promised a ministry by Chief Minister (CM) Devendra Fadnavis, demanded at least one portfolio for his party, news agency ANI reported.
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According to ANI, Athawale claimed that he was not invited to the cabinet expansion ceremony, which was attended by Fadnavis and his deputies, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar. "The swearing-in ceremony for the Maharashtra Cabinet expansion was held in Nagpur. The CM and Deputy CMs attended the event, but despite being part of the Mahayuti alliance, I did not even receive an invitation," he said.
The Republican Party of India (A) performed well in the Vidhan Sabha elections. We held meetings with Devendra Fadnavis, and he promised to allocate at least one ministry to us. However, in this expansion, there is no representation from RPI(A). We demand at least one ministry in the Cabinet," Athawale was quoted as saying by ANI.
Athawale’s remarks come after the swearing-in of the leaders from the Mahayuti alliance as Cabinet Ministers in a ceremony held at Raj Bhavan in Nagpur on Sunday.
Among those sworn in were Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including the party's Maharashtra unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Ashish Shelar, Ganesh Naik, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Pankaja Munde, Girish Mahajan, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Chandrakant Patil, and Nitesh Rane. From the Shiv Sena, Shambhuraj Desai, Dadaji Dagadu Bhuse, Sanjay Rathod, Uday Samant, Gulabrao Patil, and Sanjay Shirsat were inducted as ministers. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders Aditi Tatkare, Dhananjay Munde, and Hasan Mushrif were also sworn in as part of the Cabinet.
Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan administered the oath of office to the newly appointed ministers.
The cabinet expansion comes 10 days after CM Fadnavis and his two deputies were sworn in on December 5. The Mahayuti alliance had faced criticism from the opposition for the delay in announcing its cabinet despite holding a significant majority.
In the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024, the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance secured a landslide victory, winning 235 of the 288 seats. BJP emerged as the single largest party with 132 seats, while Shiv Sena and NCP secured 57 and 41 seats, respectively.
(With ANI inputs)
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