It's Official! Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Koshyari Approves Uddhav Thackeray's List Of Portfolios

The suspense over portfolio allocation in Maharashtra is over as Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari approved the proposed list submitted by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday. The announcement was made by Governor Koshyari on Twitter. A day before on Saturday, Thackeray had submitted list of 28 portfolios to Koshyari. Sharad Pawar-led NCP is seen as the biggest winner in the portfolio allocation. The Nationalist Congress party has bagged not only Finance but Home Ministry also. Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari had administered oath to 14 ministers from the NCP, 10 from the Congress and 12 from the Shiv Sena at Vidhan Bhavan (state legislature) premises in south Mumbai on December 30 last year. Earlier, six ministers have taken oath with CM Uddhav Thackeray.

Chief Minister Thackeray will keep General Admin Department and other portfolios not alloted to any other ministers. Senior Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde will take charge of Urban Development ministry, while Aditya Thackeray has been allotted the Tourism and Environment department. Deputy Chief Minister and senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar has been allocated the finance ministry. NCP's Anil Deshmukh and Dilip Walse Patil have been allotted the Ministry of Home Affairs and Excise, respectively. Jayant Patil will take charge of the irrigation ministry. Chhagan Bhujbal has been given the Food and Civil Supplies ministry. Former Congress chief minister Ashok Chavan has been allocated the PWD ministry. Balasaheb Thorat will take charge of the Revenue ministry.

From Congress, the biggest surprise is the ministry allocated to Ashok Chavan. He has been allocated the PWD ministry. In 2017, the former Maharashtra chief minister was acquitted in the Adarsh housing scam. Chavan had got relief after the Bombay High Court rejected the then Governor's sanction to prosecute him. Yashomati Chandrakant Thakur has been allocated the women welfare ministry. Kagda Chandya Padvi will be heading the tribal ministry.

Earlier there were reports that several Congress leaders were unhappy with portfolio allocation. The legislators had in fact met senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge to voice their concerns. Other Congress leaders who were dissatisfied over the recent cabinet expansion included, Sangram Thopate, Amin Patel and Rohidas Patil. The Congress MLAs had said that the party high command was misled by some local leaders. Those who are loyal to Congress have not been given berth, the legislators had added.

Here's the list of ministers and portfolios: