Maharashtra: NCP ministers given portfolios, Ajit Pawar gets finance
Mumbai(PTI): Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar was given the Finance and Planning portfolio on Friday, nearly two weeks after he broke away from the original party and took oath as Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister.
Eight of Pawar's NCP colleagues who were sworn in as ministers on July 2 also received their portfolios, said a statement issued by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's office.
As per the statement, Dhananjay Munde has been given Agriculture, while Dilip Walse-Patil will be the Cooperation minister.
The other NCP ministers with their allocated ministries are Hasan Mushrif (Medical Education), Chhagan Bhujbal (Food and Civil Supplies), Dharmrao Atram (Food and Drugs Administration), Sanjay Bansode (Sports), Aditi Tatkare (Woman and Child Development) and Anil Patil (Relief, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management), it said.
With the inclusion of 9 NCP ministers, there are 29 cabinet ministers in Maharashtra.
Shinde-led Shiv Sena MLAs apparently had objected to the allocation of Finance and Planning to Pawar. With Tatkare's induction, for the first time, a woman MLA has been given a cabinet berth in the Shinde government.
In the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, Tatkare was a minister of state with several portfolios.
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DK Shivakumar rejects reports about meeting Obama, Kamala Harris, says US visit is purely personal
Bengaluru, Sep 8: Rejecting reports that he was travelling to the United States of America to meet some top leaders there, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Sunday clarified that it was purely a personal visit with the family.
The DCM has also released to the media a letter that he wrote to AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge, regarding his visit to the USA.
"I am travelling to the USA (from today) along with my family till September 15. The media reports that I am meeting former US President Barack Obama and US Vice-President Kamala Harris (who is also contesting upcoming Presidential polls there) are incorrect. It is a personal visit," he clarified in a press statement.
"As I have already informed (you), I will be proceeding to Washington on 8th September 2024 evening on a private visit and I will be back on 16th September 2024. This is for your kind information," Shivakumar said in the letter to Kharge.
ALSO READ: Deputy CM DK Shivakumar warns officials of action if potholes in B'luru not filled within deadline
Earlier in the day, Shivakumar speaking to reporters here said he will be abroad for a week on a personal visit.
To a question about the agenda of his trip to the US and whether he will be meeting any big personalities there, he said, "it is a personal family trip....(meeting) no one, I'm going on a personal basis."
Shivakumar also met Chief Minister Siddramaiah at his residence earlier in the day, official sources said.
