In an unexpected development, Ajit Pawar, the opposition leader, made a significant political decision by forming an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). On July 2nd, he took the oath as the Deputy Chief Minister in the Shinde-Fadnavis cabinet, signalling a significant change in the political scenario.
Today, Ajit Pawar's camp has secured significant portfolios, consolidating their power. Despite opposition from the Shinde faction, Ajit Pawar has been entrusted with crucial responsibilities in finance and administration. Additionally, Dilip Walse-Patil has been appointed to lead the important cooperative department, while the agriculture portfolio has been transferred from Abdul Sattar of the Shinde group to NCP's Dhananjay Munde. As anticipated, Aditi Tatkare has been given charge of the Women and Child Welfare department.
However, in order to accommodate the newly allied NCP in the government, several BJP and Shiv Sena ministers had to sacrificed some of their portfolios. In today's portfolio allocation announcement, ministers from Ajit Pawar's NCP group have been assigned 6 ministries previously held by BJP ministers and 3 ministries previously held by Shiv Sena's Shinde group.
- Finance - Ajit Pawar, who led a rebellion within the NCP and took the oath as Deputy Chief Minister, has been assigned the important Finance portfolio that he had been actively seeking for the past two weeks. After lengthy discussions, Devendra Fadnavis from the BJP agreed to hand over the Finance portfolio to Ajit Pawar.
- Agriculture - Dhananjay Munde has been given the significant responsibility of overseeing the essential agriculture portfolio. He has assumed this role, taking over from Abdul Sattar, who previously represented the Shiv Sena party.
- Medical Education - Hasan Mushrif has been assigned the important role of heading the medical education department. He has taken over the position previously held by Girish Mahajan, who was a representative of the BJP.
- Food and Civil Supplies - Senior politician Chhagan Bhujbal has been appointed to oversee the food and civil supplies department, taking over from former minister Ravindra Chavan, who is a member of the BJP.
- Food and Drug Administration: Dharmarao Atram, a prominent figure, has been given the important responsibility of overseeing the food and drug administration department. He takes over from Sanjay Rathod, who previously represented the Shiv Sena.
- Sports and Youth Welfare - Sanjay Bansode has been appointed to lead the sports and youth welfare department. Girish Mahajan, the former minister, had to give up another of his roles.
- Women and Child Welfare - Aditi Tatkare has been assigned the important responsibility of overseeing the women and child welfare portfolio. She replaces Mangalprasad Lodha, who represented the BJP.
- Relief and Rehabilitation - Anil Patil has been designated to lead the relief and rehabilitation department. He takes over from Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who previously held the position.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar were involved in deliberations concerning the recent cabinet reshuffle over the past few days. To discuss the reshuffle, NCP members Ajit Pawar, Praful Patel, and Hasan Mushrif met with BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi. After several meetings on the cabinet reshuffle, a consensus has been achieved.