The Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra government has failed to announce the ministerial portfolios of the 39 ministers, even two days after the state assembly’s winter session began on Monday as well as the swearing- in ceremony on Sunday.

Significantly, this is unprecedented and perhaps it is also the very first time in the history of both Maharashtra and other states of the country, when the ministerial portfolios of cabinet ministers and even the Chief Minister and Deputy CMs remained unknown even two days after the state cabinet ministers were sworn in.

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A meeting to decide ministerial portfolios to be allotted to 39 ministers was held on Monday evening at ‘Ramgiri’, the Nagpur residence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, but mysteriously there has been no word about ministerial portfolio allocation even on Tuesday, as the Mahayuti top brass chose to stay tight lipped, sources said.

Both the Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar were present at this meeting on Monday evening, according to sources, but there has been no word about any further development. It may be recalled that shortly after the swearing-in ceremony, Fadnavis himself had announced on Sunday, that ministerial portfolios would be completed “within the next two to three days”.

Meanwhile, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituent Thackeray-led Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut has taunted the Fadnavis government about the continuing mystery behind the failure to announce ministerial portfolios.

Other MVA MLAs too continued their strong protests for the second day against electronic (EVMs), the plight of farmers, the custodial death of a Dalit Ambedkarite activist Somnath Vyankat Suryavamshi in judicial custody in Parbhani and the murder a village sarpanch in Beed by the name of Santosh Deshmukh.

MLAs of the Congress, the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party raised slogans and carried placards denouncing the BJP-led Mahayuti government, even as they targeted the police for alleged committed atrocities against Dalit activists in Parbhani and for allegedly protecting the culprits in the Beed sarpanch murder case.

After they raised slogans seeking action against the police officials in both the cases, the Speaker said that the Parbhani matter would be taken up for discussion on Wednesday by the assembly.

In a related development, Maharashtra State Congress President Nana Patole alleged that the BJP-led NDA and the Mahayuti are attempting to ‘murder’ Indian democracy by misusing electronic voting machines (EVMs). He told media persons in Nagpur on Tuesday that the EVMs used in the Lok Sabha elections were not used to conduct the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections, for which EVMs were allegedly brought to Maharashtra from Gujarat.

“There is a gross misuse of EVMs. BJP members are on the board of directors of companies manufacturing EVMs. EVMs deployed during the Lok Sabha elections were not used for the Maharashtra state assembly elections and for this, EVMs were sent from Gujarat,” Patole alleged.

He criticised the Election Commission of India (ECI) for failing to exercise its constitutional powers and alleged that all ECI operations are conducted at the behest of the BJP, “thus revealing their (ECI’s) mindset”.

He also ridiculed the ‘One Nation One Election’ bill in Parliament which he alleged is an RSS-BJP conspiracy to end democracy.