MUMBAI: The BJP has tried to strike a regional balance by inducting five ministers from Maharashtra into the Modi cabinet. The party ministers are Nitin Gadkari (Nagpur), Piyush Goyal (North Mumbai), Raksha Khadse (Raver) and Muralidhar Mohal (Pune). Alliance partners are Shiv Sena’s Lok Sabha MP Prataprao Jadhav (Buldhana) and Rajya Sabha MP Ramdas Athawale from RPI(A).
That means four open category Lok sabha members were sworn in while one OBC and one Dalit took the oath as minister. BJP lost all tribal seats in Lok Sabha elections. The Ajit Pawar-led NCP did not get the expected ministry.
Gadkari, who belongs to the Brahmin caste, won for a third time from Nagpur. He is the only party MP from the Vidarbha region who was sworn in as minister.
Gadkari earlier served as the BJP chief from 2009 to 2013. He is also known for his work as the PWD minister of the state, where, under his leadership, a series of roads, highways and flyovers were constructed.
Piyush Goyal was earlier elected to the Rajya Sabha. He comes from Marwari community. His father was also a BJP leader. Goyal is the only minister from Mumbai and its metropolitan region.
He became the Minister of State for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy in the Modi government in 2014 and undertook multiple initiatives in his term. Under his tenure, India saw a proliferation of renewable energy through the world’s largest renewable energy expansion programme.
Raksha Khadse is elected for the third time. She has risen from the post of sarpanch. She comes from the Leva Patil agrarian community that is part of the OBC community. She will be the only minister from north Maharashtra.
Muralidhar Mohal, BJP MP from Pune, belongs to the Maratha community and is the only minister from the western part of the state. He started his political career as corporator in Pune Municipal Corporation.
Prataprao Jadhav, Shiv Sena MP from Buldhana belongs to the Maratha community. He comes from the Marathwada region. Since the BJP failed to get any seat from the region, it chose its alliance partner for the regional representation.