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Manohar Joshi to expand and reshuffle cabinet on May 9

Maharashtra Chief Minister Manohar Joshi today announced that he will expand his ministry on May 9 and also reshuffle the portfolios of some ministers.

Speaking to reporters in Bombay, Joshi said the list of the new ministers to be inducted and the change of portfolios would be made known on Thursday, two days before the swearing-in ceremony.

The chief minister, however, declined to disclose either the number or the names of the new ministers.

Currently, the state council is 42-strong, with 24 cabinet ministers and 18 ministers of state.

The chief minister remained non-committal if Sashikant Sutar, former agriculture minister who has been cleared of corruption charges by the Dudhat Commission, would be re-inducted into the ministry. Sutar's status would be known when the list is released, he said.

Joshi also denied any differences between the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the ministry or otherwise.

He said the alliance government headed by him was committed to implementing its poll promises and all other schemes announced by it after coming to power in the state.

To yet another question whether he would complete his full term in office, Joshi said he would remain in the post as long as his leader and Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray wished. But if he got to spend five years in office, the entire vachannama(manifesto) of the alliance government would be implemented in toto, he added.

UNI

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