The much-awaited list of Guardian Ministers for various districts of Maharashtra was announced on Saturday, with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis getting the responsibility of Gadchiroli and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar to handle Pune and Beed.
The announcement came nearly a month after the formation of the new BJP-NCP-Shiv Sena government last month.
Another Deputy CM, Eknath Shinde, who is also the Shiv Sena chief, would be the Guardian Minister of his home district Thane, as well as Mumbai city.
State Ministers Ashish Shelar and Mangal Prabhat Lodha will serve as Guardian Ministers for the Mumbai suburbs.
Dhananjay Munde, the NCP leader and Food and Civil Supplies Minister, did not find a place in the list of Maharashtra Guardian Ministers. Munde is under fire over the Beed sarpanch murder case. In the previous government, he was the Guardian Minister of this central Maharashtra district.
Full List
Gadchiroli: Devendra Fadnavis and Ashish Jaiswal (co-guardian minister)
Mumbai city: Eknath Shinde
Nagpur: Chandrashekhar Bawankule
Amravati: Chandrashekhar Bawankule
Ahilya Nagar: Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil
Sangli: Chandrakant Patil
Mumbai Suburbs: Ashish Shelar, Mangal Prabhat Lodha (co-guardian minister)
Latur: Shivendrasinh Bhosale
Nandurbar: Manikrao Kokata
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Sanjay Shirsat
Dharashiv: Pratap Sarnaik
Buldhana: Makarand Jadhav (Patil)
Kolhapur: Prakash Abitkar, Madhuri Misal (co-guardian minister)
Parbhani: Meghana Sakore Bordikar
In December 2024, a total of 39 legislators from Mahayuti allies were sworn in as ministers, including 16 new faces.
However, CM Fadnavis said that the new inductees would have to perform with Mahayuti allies deciding to conduct a ‘performance audit’ of ministers during their tenure.
