Maharashtra Cabinet Expansion: CM Eknath Shinde Says `Soon', Spokesperson Of His Faction Says `Likely In Four Days'

The much-awaited expansion of the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra cabinet is expected to take place in the next four days, a spokesperson of the Shinde camp said on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Shinde himself had said it would happen "soon."

At present, Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, both of whom took oath on June 30, are the only members of the cabinet. Deepak Kesarkar, spokesperson of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction, told reporters that "there is a possibility of Maharashtra cabinet expansion in next four days."

"This is what I have been told by senior leaders of the coalition. We need to complete the expansion process so that ministers can take briefings and face the upcoming monsoon session of the Assembly,” he said.

The state legislature's monsoon session was scheduled to start from July 18, but it was put off after Shinde brought down the Uddhav Thackeray-led government and became CM with the BJP's support. 

The Thackeray-led Sena and Congress and Nationalist Congress Party have been questioning  the delay in the cabinet expansion. 
 
"We will soon expand our cabinet. Even as the cabinet expansion has not taken place, the government is working efficiently. We have taken multiple decisions that are people-oriented," Shinde told reporters in Pune. 

(With PTI Inputs)