Mumbai: The much-awaited cabinet expansion is all set to happen in Maharashtra on Sunday as some new ministers will be sworn in at Raj Bhavan into Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' state cabinet.
Some ministers are also likely to be dropped from the cabinet.
On Saturday CM Fadnavis went to Delhi to discuss and finalise the names of new members in his cabinet.
It is being widely speculated that housing minister Prakash Mehta may be sacked from the cabinet while former Congress heavyweight leader from Ahmednagar Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil may be sworn in.
The State assembly will soon go into its monsoon session which is also going to be the budget session for the assembly.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis decided to expand the cabinet some weeks ago, however the names of new ministers were not finalised for many weeks. On Sunday morning new ministers will be inducted in the cabinet.
According to sources, Anil Bonde from Amravati, Dr Sanjay Kute from Buldhana and Avinash Mahatekar from RPI, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil and Jaydatta Kshirsagar will be sworn in as new ministers.
While Cabinet ministers Prakash Mehta and Vishnu Savara will be out along with minister of State Vidya Thakur, Ambarish Raje Atram and Pravin Pote will be out from ministry.
Chief minister Fadanavis met Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday, giving rise to speculation about cabinet expansion on Sunday.
“I met Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray at his residence Matoshri and had detailed discussion regarding cabinet expansion,” tweeted Fadnavis late on Friday night.
He met the Governor earlier in the day.
With just four months to go for Assembly elections, both the BJP and Sena are keen to give an opportunity to new faces in the cabinet.
Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil quit Congress and joined BJP. He resigned as MLA.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former minister Jaydutta Kshirsagar, who has joined the Sena recently, is also hopeful of joining the cabinet.
The State does not have full-time Agriculture and Health ministers at present.
