Ajit Pawar takes charge as Maharashtra’s finance and planning minister

Mumbai, July 14

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday took charge as the state’s finance and planning minister, nearly two weeks after he took oath along with eight other Nationalist Congress Party leaders.

A statement said prior to the official announcement of the portfolios, he was briefed by two secretaries of the Finance and Planning Department.

His new office will be on the fifth floor of Mantralaya which will also serve as the office of the deputy chief minister.

After he broke away from the Sharad Pawar-founded party, Ajit Pawar and eight other NCP leaders were sworn in as ministers on July 2. They were given their portfolios on Friday.

According to a statement by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s office, Dhananjay Munde has been given Agriculture, while Dilip Walse-Patil will be the new Cooperation minister.

The other NCP ministers with their allocated ministries are Hasan Mushrif (Medical Education), Chhagan Bhujbal (Food and Civil Supplies), Dharmrao Atram (Food and Drugs Administration), Sanjay Bansode (Sports), Aditi Tatkare (Woman and Child Development) and Anil Patil (Relief, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management), it said.

  NR