As rebellion within the Shiv Sena continues to mount and destabilise the Maharashtra government, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday, 27 June, stripped nine rebel cabinet ministers of their portfolios.
This comes a day after he was authorised to take action against rebel leaders in the party's key executive meeting held in Mumbai.
He handed over the portfolios of nine ministers camping in Guwahati to other ministers.
Eknath Shinde's Public Works and Urban Development portfolios have been handed over to Subhash Desai
Uday Samant's Higher Education and Technical Education portfolios have been given to Aaditya Thackeray
Shankarrao Gadakh gets Dada Bhuse's Agriculture and Ex-Servicemen Welfare portfolios, as well as Employment Guarantee and Horticulture, held by Sandeepan Bhumare
Gulabrao Patil's Water Supply and Sanitation portfolios have been transferred to Anil Parab
The chief minister also cracked down on Ministers of State.
Three portfolios held by Shambhuraj Desai have been given to Sanjay Bansode (Home-Rural) and Vishwajit Kadam (Finance, Planning, and Skill Development).
Rajendra Patil's (Yadravkar) four ministries have been distributed among Vishwajeet Kadam (Public Health and Family Welfare), Prajakt Tanpure (Medical Education and Textile), Satej Patil (Food and Drugs Administration), and Aditi Tatkare (Cultural Activities).
Three portfolios held by Abdul Sattar have now been reshuffled among Prajakt Tanpure (Revenue), Satej Patil (Rural Development), and Aditi Tatkare (Ports).
Four ministries held by Om Prakash Kudu were distributed among Aditi Tatkare (School Education), Satej Patil (Water Resources), Sanjay Bansode (Women and Child Development), and Dattatray Bharne (Other Backward Class Development).
The portfolios of the rebel ministers were handed over to other ministers for ease of administration, an official statement said.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is hearing the petition by Shinde against the party's move to disqualify him and 15 other rebel MLAs on Monday, 27 June.
The apex court will also hear another plea challenging the Acting Speaker Narhari Zirwal's decision to appoint Thackeray camp MLA Ajay Chaudhari as the Legislative Party Leader, a post that Shinde was holding since 2019.
Aaditya Thackeray Only MLA Left; All 4 MoS in Rebel Camp
The Sena now has four cabinet ministers, including CM Uddhav Thackeray, Aaditya Thackeray, Anil Parab, and Subhash Desai.
Aaditya Thackeray is the only cabinet minister from the Shiv Sena quota who is an MLA, while the remaining three from his party are MLCs.
In the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by the Sena, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party had ten cabinet-rank ministers before the rebellion and four Ministers of State (MoS), including two from the Sena.
All the four MoS have joined the rebel camp in Guwahati.
Samant, who headed the Higher and Technical Education ministry, was the ninth minister from Shiv Sena to join the Shinde-led rebel camp.
The rebel faction currently has more than 40 Sena MLAs, their tally number is 55 including MLAs of the Prahar party and independents.
(With inputs from PTI and NDTV.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)