Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar reportedly expressed discontent over the delayed cabinet expansion in the state government and the stalled allocation of guardian ministers in the districts. Responding to this, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has issued a revised list of guardian ministers for 11 districts in the state. According to the updated list, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has been appointed as the Guardian Minister of Pune district, while Chandrakant Patil has been assigned the role of Guardian Minister for Solapur and Amravati districts.
In early July, Ajit Pawar surprised many, including Sharad Pawar, by joining the Grand Alliance government along with several MLAs. At that time, the Ajit Pawar group secured nine ministerial positions. However, discussions about cabinet expansion and legal complications led to delays in assigning roles to guardian ministers, sparking discontent within the Ajit Pawar group. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has released the revised guardian minister responsibilities list.
In this updated list, Ajit Pawar has been entrusted with the guardianship of Pune district. Chandrakant Patil, the former Guardian Minister for Pune, has been tasked with overseeing Solapur and Amravati districts. Additionally, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil has been appointed as the Guardian Minister for Akola, Dilip Walse-Patil for Buldhana, Hasan Mushrif for Kolhapur, Dhananjay Munde for Beed, and Anil Patil for Nandurbar district.
The revised list of 11 district Guardian Ministers is as follows:
- Pune: Ajit Pawar
- Akola: Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil
- Solapur: Chandrakant Patil
- Amravati: Chandrakant Patil
- Bhandara: Vijaykumar Gaikwad
- Buldhana: Dilip Walse-Patil
- Kolhapur: Hasan Mushrif
- Gondia: Dharmaraobaba Atram
- Beed: Dhananjay Munde
- Parbhani: Sanjay Bansode
- Nandurbar: Anil Patil