Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will appoint his Cabinet on Tuesday, The Indian Express reported, citing officials at the Raj Bhavan.
A dozen ministers are likely to take oath at the ceremony scheduled to be held at the Raj Bhavan at noon, an unidentified aide of Shinde told PTI.
Shinde was sworn in as the chief minister of Maharashtra on June 30 after he and other Shiv Sena MLAs rebelled against party leader Uddhav Thackeray, toppling the three-member Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition government. Bharatiya Janata Party’s Devendra Fadnavis was appointed as his deputy.
However, despite being in power for 40 days, the Cabinet consists of only Shinde and Fadnavis. Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao holds the record of running his state for 68 days with just one minister in 2018, according to PTI.
Media reports had attributed the delay to the case pending in the Supreme Court regarding the Shiv Sena MLAs, who supported Shinde.
However, both Shinde and Fadnavis denied this, according to The Indian Express.
A legal battle is underway between the groups led by Thackeray and Shinde to be recognised as the real Shiv Sena. The Thackeray-led faction has filed six petitions in the Supreme Court challenging the governor’s act of administering the oath of office to Shinde and questioning the election of the Maharashtra Speaker, among other things.
On August 4, the Supreme Court had asked the Election Commission not to take any action on Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde faction’s claim for recognition as the real Shiv Sena.
Monsoon Session from August 10
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government on Monday announced that the Monsoon Session of the state Assembly will be held from August 10 to August 18, The Indian Express reported.
The state secretariat has cancelled all holidays of employees for the period and has asked them to be present in the office.
A public holiday on August 9 for Muharram has also been cancelled in view of the Monsoon Session.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!