Bhujbal, Thorat, Desai make it to cabinet; Uddhav takes oath as CM

Long stints in electoral politics and past experience in handling key government departments are the hallmarks of CongressNCPShiv Sena legislators who took oath as ministers along with Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray at the Shivaji Park here on Thursday eveningThackeray is heading a coalition government the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA whose main constituents are the Sena the Congress and the NCP Chhagan Bhujbal Jayant Patil both from the NCP Balasaheb Thorat and Nitin Raut both from the Congress Eknath Shinde and Subhash Desai both from the Sena took oath as ministers along with ThackerayMumbai Nationalist Congress Party leader Chhagan Chandrakant Bhujbal takes oath as minister Maharashtra pictwittercomvwSvPz4fynmdash ANI ANI November 28 2019Chhagan BhujbalBhujbal 72 is a veteran figure in Maharashtra politics who has the rare distinction of being associated with all the three major nonBJP parties in the state A senior Nationalist Congress Party NCP leader Bhujbal had been a member of both the Shiv Sena and the Congress at different timesTaking over as a minister is a sort of revival of his political fortunes after spending two years in jail since March 2016 in a money laundering case when the BJPled government was in power Bhujbal who represents the OBC community cut his political teeth in the Shiv Sena He served as the Mayor of Mumbai a Sena bastion two times 198586 and 199091He quit the Sena in 1991 causing quite a stir in state politics and joined the Congress Bhujbal resigned from Congress in 1999 and sided with Sharad Pawar who formed the NCP the same year He became deputy chief minister in December 2008 and held key portfolios such as home affairs and public works in the CongressNCP governmentMaharashtra NCP leader Jayant Rajaram Patil takes oath as minister in Mumbai httpstcoQWnDgjf9lZ pictwittercomi9US6vsVvWmdash ANI ANI November 28 2019Jayant PatilJayant Patil 57 is perceived as a leader with a clean image He took charge of the NCPs Maharashtra unit replacing Sunil Tatkare in April 2018 ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha and state assembly polls The NCP retained its tally in the 2019 April Lok Sabha election and fared better in the October assembly polls but the credit largely went to his boss PawarBeing part of a motley alliance of oncerival and ideologically divergent parties Patil known for composed demeanour will be one of the key leaders who will be seen doing the trapeze act to ensure the threeparty government sustainsPatil son of wellknown Maharashtra leader the late Rajaram Patil held key portfolios like finance home and rural development from 1999 to 2014 when the CongressNCP combine ruled the stateMumbai Shiv Sena leaders Eknath Shinde and Subhash Desai take oath as ministers Maharashtra pictwittercomRkyOdP6qRymdash ANI ANI November 28 2019Eknath ShindeShinde 55 is the most prominent face of the Sena in the adjoining Thane city from where has been elected consecutively four terms to the assemblyConsidered a troubleshooter in the Sena Shinde was the PWD minister in the previous BJPled government 201419Subhash DesaiOne of the confidants of Uddhav Thackeray Desai 77 is currently an MLC The seniormost member of the cabinet had been a member of the assembly three timesNow serving his third term in the upper house of the legislature Desai was the industries minister in the 201419 BJPSena governmentMaharashtra Congress leaders Balasaheb Thorat and Nitin Raut take oath as Ministers pictwittercomexY9bMoOTNmdash ANI ANI November 28 2019Balasaheb ThoratCongress leader Balasaheb Thorat 66 took charge of the partys state unit at a difficult timeWhen Thorat became the Maharashtra Congress chief in July this year the party was already staring down the barrel after its Lok Sabha poll debacle in the state once its citadel It could win only one seat in the general election and was relegated to an inferior position than its ally the NCPThe Congress 44 though fared better in the Assembly elections winning two more seats than its 2014 tally The result may not be satisfactory for the party which led the state several times in the past a trusted lieutenant of the partys central leadership Thorat ensured proper coordination in the state unit hit by factionalismThorat known for maintaining a low profile was first elected as an MLA from Sangamner in 1985 as an independent In 1990 he contested Assembly poll on a Congress ticket and this is his eighth term as a legislatorHe became a minister of state in 1999 and was promoted as a cabinet minister in 2004 The Congress legislature party leader has held revenue agriculture water conservation and protocol portfolios in the pastNitin RautA key leader of the Congress from its erstwhile bastion of Vidarbha in eastern Maharashtra Raut 62 is a fourterm MLAHe is national chairman of the Congresss Scheduled Caste department and one of the working presidents of the party in MaharashtraHailing from Nagpur Raut too comes with past experience in government He has held animal husbandry employment guarantee and water conservation departments so farCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates