Eknath Shinde, Fadnavis discuss cabinet expansion
Eknath Shinde, Fadnavis discuss cabinet expansion
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NEW DELHI: The newly appointed chief minister of Maharashtra, Eknath Shinde, and deputy chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis, met on Saturday to discuss cabinet expansion and the formula for dividing cabinet berth between the BJP and Shiv Sena, source said. The meeting, which  was held at Nadda's home in the nation's capital lasted for about 40 minutes.

The BJP offered 11 ministerial positions to the Shinde side during initial negotiations, and it suggested that 29 ministers would be party members, the source said. The Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena is in favour of the Chief Minister continuing to oversee the Home Department. On the other hand, no formal information has yet been provided.

Shinde is making his first trip to the capital as chief minister of Maharashtra. On Friday, Shinde and Fadnavis met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The discussion is significant given the rumours that the Maharashtra cabinet will be expanded in two stages and the possibility that this will happen prior to the presidential election on July 18. After Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray resigned due to an uprising within his party, Shinde and Fadnavis took office as the new government's chief minister and deputy chief minister, respectively, on June 30.

Some independent MLAs joined Shine, who had spearheaded the uprising. Shinde had previously stated that a decision on cabinet expansion will be made quickly following consultations. According to sources, more than a dozen members of the Shinde camp might become ministers. Shinde had joined the uprising with the support of eight Uddhav government ministers. It has been suggested that they may all be reinstated as ministers.

On Saturday, Shinde and Fadnavis also visited Rajnath Singh, the defence minister, at his home in Delhi. They made a phone call to Ram Nath Kovind as well. In the evening, Shinde and Fadnavis would probably meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Shinde will fly to Pune in a private aircraft following his visit to the nation's capital.

Shinde and Fadnavis discussed the formation of the new cabinet and other state-related issues during their meeting with Amit Shah on Friday. According to sources, Shah and the group discussed the political situation in Maharashtra for four hours.

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