MUMBAI: The rebel MLAs of Shiv Sena who had served as ministers in the erstwhile Uddhav Thackeray-led government are likely to be inducted into the Eknath Shinde-led cabinet on Tuesday.
Names of former ministers Uday Samant, Sandipan Bhumre, Dada Bhuse, Gulabrao Patil, and Shambhuraj Desai are doing the rounds as the probables from the rebel camp as the much-awaited expansion of the cabinet is finally happening on Tuesday, almost 40 days after Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the chief minister and deputy chief minister, respectively.
Omprakash Kadu of the Prahar Janshakti Paksha, a former minister, who had supported Shinde during the rebellion could also find a place in the new cabinet.
The MLAs in the Shinde faction said they will meet at the state government's Sahyadri Guest House on Tuesday morning.
The oath-taking ceremony is slated to be held at 11 AM at the Raj Bhavan.
"We have not received any communication from the chief minister so far. We will get more clarity on it in tomorrow's meeting," said a rebel MLA who was a member of the Thackeray cabinet.
Of the 55 MLAs of Shiv Sena, 40 have aligned with Shinde.
The revolt led to the collapse of the Thackeray-led government in June.
Shinde was sworn in as the CM on June 30 along with Fadnavis, who took oath as the Deputy CM.
A dozen ministers will take oath at Tuesday's ceremony at Raj Bhavan in south Mumbai at 11 AM, a close aide of Shinde had said.
The chief minister told reporters in Nanded on Monday evening that the names of MLAs who will take oath as ministers will be finalised by Monday night or on Tuesday.
Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday nominated party MLC Ambadas Danve for the post of the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council.
In a letter to the chairman of the Legislative Council, Thackeray said party MLCs had authorised him to nominate a candidate for the post of LoP in a meeting on July 9.
Danve hails from Aurangabad, a district which has four rebel Sena MLAs.
Last month, a delegation of Shiv Sena MLCs Manisha Kayande, Sachin Ahir, Ambadas Danve, Vilas Potnis and Sunil Shinde met Legislative Council Deputy Chairperson Neelam Gorhe and submitted a letter regarding the LoP and chief whip.
As of July 8, the 78-member Maharashtra Legislative Council has 24 members from the BJP, 12 from the Shiv Sena and 10 each from the Congress and the NCP.
Lok Bharti, Peasants and Workers Party of India and Rashtriya Samaj Paksh have one member each.
There are four Independents, while 15 seats in the Legislative Council are vacant.
If Danve becomes the Leader of Opposition, it will be a rare instance of the chief minister and the LoP in the Legislative Council belonging to the same party but different factions.
Nationalist Congress Party's Ajit Pawar is the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly.
Thackeray has not formally resigned as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council even after 40 days when he announced this decision while stepping down as the chief minister.
A senior Maharashtra Vidhan Bhavan official on Monday said that technically Uddhav Thackeray is still an MLC as he has not submitted a written resignation.
"He has not yet officially resigned as a member of the Legislative Council. His resignation as the chief minister of Maharashtra was approved by Governor B S Koshyari but we have not received any written communication from him regarding his membership of the Upper House of the state legislature," the official said.
Deputy chairman of Maharashtra Legislative Council and Shiv Sena leader Neelam Gorhe refused to comment.
There has been no explanation available from Shiv Sena on why Thackeray has not yet formally resigned as an MLC after he announced his decision on the night of June 29.
Thackeray's son Aaditya is an MLA from Mumbai.
When Uddhav Thackeray took oath as the chief minister in November 2019 after the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) was formed, he was not a member of the either House of the state legislature.
He was elected as MLC on May 18, 2020, with a tenure of six years.
Thackeray announced his resignation as the Maharashtra CM on June 29 night after the Supreme Court refused to stay a floor test necessitated after 39 of the 55 MLAs of Shiv Sena aligned with rebel Eknath Shinde.
Shinde took oath as the chief minister on June 30 along with Devendra Fadnavis of the Bharatiya Janata Party, who is Deputy CM.