Maharashtra Cabinet expansion: NCP leader Awhad sworn-in as minister

Mumbai, May 29: NCP leader Jitendra Awhad was today sworn-in as minister as a part of the Cabinet expansion of the Maharashtra government. Governor K Sankaranarayanan administered the oath of office to Awhad, the working president of NCP's Maharashtra unit, at the Raj Bhawan here.

Awhad was the only minister who took oath at the ceremony. NCP, which is Congress' ally in the state government, has brought in Awhad to fill up the vacancy created by the ouster of Vijaykumar Gavit.

Gavit, a regional heavyweight, was expelled from NCP after his daughter Heena Gavit contested from Nandurbar Lok Sabha constituency on a BJP ticket. She went on to win the seat by defeating 9-term Congress MP Manikrao Gavit.

The last reshuffle took place in June 2013 when NCP dropped Ramraje Naik-Nimbalkar, Laxman Dhobale, Gulabrao Devkar, Babanrao Pachpute, Bhaskar Jadhav, and brought in Sanjay Savkare, Uday Samant, Shashikant Shinde, Madhukar Pichad and Dilip Sopal. The Assembly elections in Maharashtra are due later this year.

PTI