Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde expands two-member cabinet; 18 ministers sworn in
Mumbai(PTI): Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday expanded his two-member ministry, 41 days after taking oath as the CM.
Eighteen legislators, including state BJP president Chandrakant Patil, were sworn in as cabinet ministers at Raj Bhavan in south Mumbai. The list doesn't include a woman.
The strength of Maharashtra ministry has now gone up to 20, less than half the maximum allowed strength of 43.
Governor B S Koshyari administered the oath of office to the ministers. The event, scheduled to begin at 11 am was delayed by 15 minutes.
On June 30, Shinde was sworn in as the chief minister and Devendra Fadnavis took oath as deputy CM.
Those who took oath as ministers on Tuesday include nine each from the Shinde group and the BJP.
The new BJP ministers are Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Sudhir Mungantiwar, Chandrakant Patil, Vijaykumar Gavit, Girish Mahajan, Suresh Khade, Ravindra Chavan, Atul Save and Mangalprabhat Lodha.
From the Shinde group, Gulabrao Patil, Dada Bhuse, Sanjay Rathod, Sandipan Bhumre, Uday Samant, Tanaji Sawant, Abdul Sattar, Deepak Kesarkar and Shambhuraj Desai were sworn in as ministers.
No minister of state was sworn in today. There will be another ministry expansion later, an aide of Shinde said.
While BJP has inducted Lodha, who hails from Mumbai, the Shinde group hasn't included any legislator from the financial capital, where municipal corporation elections are slated later this year.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Dakshina Kannada: Two girls drown while bathing near Kolyadakatta dam in Kadaba
Mangaluru: Two girl students drowned while bathing near the Kolyadakatta dam area of the Gundya river on Friday evening here in the Kadaba Taluk of the district.
The deceased have been identified as Arpita (15) and Sunita (21), both residents of Vimalagiri in Kutrupadi village.
According to reports, five girl students had visited the river along with their friends as it was a holiday. While bathing in the river, the two students reportedly entered a deeper portion of the water without realising the depth and began drowning.
Those accompanying them tried to rescue the duo, but were unsuccessful, leading to the tragedy.
After receiving information about the incident, Kadaba Police Station personnel visited the spot and conducted an inspection. The bodies were later recovered with the help of local residents.
