Eknath Shinde, the Chief Minister, postponed all of his official events on Thursday owing to illness despite the uncertainty surrounding cabinet expansion caused by the wild rush for ministerial vacancies and allegations and counterclaims by the BJP and Shinde camp.
According to the Chief Minister's Office, the doctor has ordered him to rest because he is experiencing a fever as a result of exercise. Devendra Fadnavis, the deputy chief minister, abruptly cancelled his plans for today and headed for Delhi.
Meetings between Fadnavis and Amit Shah and JP Nadda are likely to be held in order to discuss cabinet expansion as well as the ongoing legal dispute, especially now that the Supreme Court has ordered the Election Commission to refrain from taking any action in relation to the Shiv Sena's election symbol.
Additionally, some lawmakers from the
BJP and the Shinde camp arrived at Mantralaya without the CM or DCM because they were anxious to learn their fate and whether the extension of Raj Bhavan was scheduled for Friday. Several lawmakers were occupied discussing their work plans with the secretaries of their respective departments at a time when the Shinde-Fadnavis government's future is uncertain in the wake of legal and parliamentary conflicts.
The announcement of the Friday cabinet enlargement amused the lawmakers, despite the Chief Minister's Office and the Raj Bhavan stating that they were unaware of it. Governor BS Koshyari, who is now in Nagpur, will arrive in Mumbai on Friday. To discuss who are most likely to be appointed to the council of ministers, another set of lawmakers engaged in "chai pe charcha." Approximately 14 MPs, including seven from the BJP and seven from the Shinde camp, would be sworn in on Friday, according to a senior lawmaker, who later stressed that his information was based solely on television reports.
There was discussion regarding the BJP lawmakers Chandrakant Patil, Girish Mahajan, Sudhir Mungantiwar, Pravin Darekar, Radhakrishna Vikhroli-Patil, Ravindra Chavan, and Babanrao Lonikar. Those from the Shinde camp, on the other hand, placed Dadaji Bhuse, Gulabrao Patil, Uday Samant, Sandeepan Bhumre, Deepak Kesarkar, Abdul Sattar and Sanjay Shirsat on the list of lawmakers who might get a job in the cabinet.
Kesarkar, the spokesperson for the Shinde camp, did not provide a specific date but made an indicating statement that the expansion is anticipated in four days. The Governor will be informed of the date, he added, and the swearing-in will follow. As the CM is anticipated to be in Delhi for the Niti Aayog meeting, another legislator announced late Thursday night that the cabinet enlargement won't take place on Friday or even till Sunday. Therefore, he asserted that the following "mahurat" is probably not till the August 8th Supreme Court hearing.
