Ten ministers of state are likely to be inducted into the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in Maharashtra the first week of December. The proposed expansion of the Cabinet has been approved by BJP president Amit Shah, while the formal approval of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is pending, reported PTI. There are a total of 12 vacancies in Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s cabinet and there can be 42 ministers overall in Maharashtra.

Four ministers from the BJP, as many from the NDA’s smaller members – Rashtriya Samaj Paksha, Shiv Sangram, Republican Party of India (Athavale) and the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna – and two Shiv Sena leaders will be included in the council of ministers. At present, there are 30 ministers in the government, including the chief minister – 18 Cabinet and 12 ministers of state. There are 20 ministers from the BJP and 10 from the Shiv Sena in the present council of ministers.

The Fadnavis government was sworn in on October 31 last year with seven Cabinet and two ministers of state, along with the chief minister. When the Shiv Sena later joined the government, the strength of the ministry increased from 10 to 30.