Mumbai: Two months after the Maharashtra state assembly elections and the subsequent political drama which followed it, the tri-party coalition government of Maharashtra has finally inducted 36 new ministers in the state cabinet. This is the first expansion of Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s cabinet since he took charge on November 28. A senior Nationalist Congress Party leader has said that the portfolios would be distributed by Monday, December 30, night.Ajit Pawar, a senior leader of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP took oath as the deputy chief minister. Amid controversy, 60-year-old Ajit took charge today and was inducted as the second most influential minister. In November, even as the newly floated Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress coalition was finalising the terms and conditions of their common government, Pawar had overnight moved towards the Bhartiya Janata Party and had taken oath as deputy of BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis. This government had lasted for fewer than 80 hours as Ajit did not have the requisite number of MLAs to support this government. Ajit ended up quitting hours before a Supreme Court ordered floor test, ending the BJP’s dramatic bid to seize power.Also watch: Maharashtra: How to Kill Democracy in 10 StepsAjit, who had miffed several leaders including his uncle Sharad was soon back in the party fold and had since been lobbying for a plum post. Ajit has held the deputy CM’s post between 2012-2014. Several senior leaders from NCP and Congress had expressed their reservations against Ajit’s comeback. धन्यवाद आणि शुभेच्छा @AmitV_Deshmukh . https://t.co/E2PkaiW1FE— Ajit Pawar (@AjitPawarSpeaks) December 30, 2019Soon after Pawar had joined hands with Fadnavis in November, several serious irrigations-related cases against him were dropped. The process of exonerating him from other pending cases continued as the state’s Anti-Corruption Bureau filed affidavits before the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court stating that evidence was not found against Pawar. In 2012 too, just a week before Pawar was made a deputy CM, a government white paper on irrigation had given Pawar a clean chit. In 2012, when Pawar was accused of playing a crucial role in the scam, he had threatened to quit. Soon after, as many as 19 MLAs had offered to resign too.While most other MLAs who were inducted today are veterans and have won from their respective constituencies several times, 29- year old Aaditya Thackeray was one of the youngest and first- time MLAs to take oath along with 36 others. Aaditya, the first member of the Thackeray family to contest an election, won from Mumbai’s Worli seat in the recent state election. Sena leaders were reluctant to induct Aaditya into the cabinet. The reasons, most claim, were professional and not personal. “He is very young and inexperienced. This is his first term and we felt that it would be better if he spent some time learning the ropes,” said one of the party MLAs. आज मुख्यमंत्री उद्धव ठाकरे जी यांच्या नेतृत्वात काम करणारे माझे इतर सर्व सहकारी, ज्यांनी मंत्रीपदाची शपथ घेतली, मी त्या सर्वांचे अभिनंदन करतो. pic.twitter.com/AYzpGtU6Fp— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) December 30, 2019Besides Ajit Pawar and Aaditya Thackeray, other cabinet ministers that were sworn in included Ashok Chavan and Amit Deshmukh (son of late Congress leader and former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh) of the Congress, Nawab Malik, Anil Deshmukh, Jitendra Awhad and Dilip Walse Patil of the NCP. Rajya Sabha member and a senior Sena leader Sanjay Raut remained absent from the swearing-in ceremony. His brother Sunil Raut not being allotted a ministerial berth has reportedly upset Raut. Raut had played an important role in bringing Sena, NCP and Congress together. While the cabinet is dominated yet against by Maratha leaders, several Bahujan and Muslim MLAs have also been considered this time. Along with the oath, several MLAs invoked names of social reformers and great leaders. When Congress’s Varsha Gaikwad began her oath with a mention of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, she was interrupted by state governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. She, however, ended her oath with a “Jai Bhim”, a salutation used in reverence of Ambedkar. Another eight-term MLA and a senior tribal leader K.C. Padavi was interrupted when he tried to end his oath with an additional line about environment and humanity. Koshyari, who was evidently upset, interrupted Padavi and asked him to only stick to the oath administered to him and not digress. Padavi quickly completed his speech. Among those inducted today were ten ministers of state. First timers like Aditi Tatkare, daughter of NCP leader Sunil Tatkare and Vishwajeet Kadam son of late Congress leader Patangrao Kadam were among them. The Sena also gave three of the independent MLA’s supporting the government ministerial berths from its quota.