Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has demanded the crucial home department from the BJP, and talks on portfolio allocation are in progress, Shiv Sena MLA Bharat Gogavale said. Gogavale, an aide of Shinde who heads the Shiv Sena, on Friday said the cabinet expansion is likely to take place between December 11 and 16, just ahead of the winter session of the state legislature. The winter session will start in Nagpur, the state's second capital, on December 16.
"When Devendra Fadnavis was the deputy chief minister (in the Shinde-led government), he also held the home department. Saheb (Shinde) has demanded the home and talks (on portfolio allocation) are in progress," Gogavale said.
Asked to whom the demand was made, Gogavale said it was probably Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Home Minister Amit Shah. The MLA from Mahad in Raigad district maintained that attempts are being made to change the portfolios held by the Shiv Sena in the previous Mahayuti government.
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Gogavale hoped the talks on portfolio allocation would be over in the next two days. BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the chief minister for a third time on Thursday at a grand ceremony in south Mumbai's Azad Maidan, while Shinde and Ajit Pawar (NCP) were sworn in as his deputies.
No other leader was administered the oath of office at the ceremony except the top three Mahayuti politicians. The BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP are constituents of the Mahayuti coalition, which won 230 seats in the 288-member assembly in last month's polls.