A total of 18 MLAs take the oath, and Maharashtra finally gets ministers.

A total of 18 MLAs, 9 each from the BJP and Shiv Sena section led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, were appointed as ministers at a grand ceremony in Mumbai today. This much-awaited cabinet expansion 40 days after a revolt by the Sena faction led by Mr. Shinde brought down the Uddhav Thackeray-led government.

The Opposition parties had criticized the delay in expansion of the cabinet, followed by the swearing-in of Mr. Shinde as the chief minister of Maharastra and the BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy in June.

Chief Minister met MLAs of his camp ahead of the functions this morning. He is supported by 40 of the 55 Sena MLAs.

The formation of the cabinet expansion saw a sequence of meetings between Mr. Shinde and the BJP leadership. The chief minister flew down to Delhi multiple times to discuss the potential names with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, among others.

BJP MLAs who got cabinet positions comprise Chandrakant Patil, Sudhir Mungantiwar, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Ravindra Chavhan, Girish Mahajan, Suresh Khade, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Vijaykumar Gavit, and Atul Save.

From the Sena party, Dada Bhuse, Sandeepan Bhumre, Uday Samant, Deepak Kesarkar, Gulabrao Patil, Sanjay Rathod, Tanaji Sawant, Abdul Sattar, and Shambhuraje Desai will take the oath for their cabinet positions.

The final list displays a fine balance between rewarding Sena MLAs for their revolt against the Uddhav Thackeray leadership and assuring there is no resentment in the BJP ranks either.