Maharashtra govt approves resolution to appoint staff for CMO, ministers' offices

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 27 : Though the Cabinet expansion is yet to be conducted in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has released a resolution for the appointments of the staff of Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and Ministers of State.
According to the Government Resolution (GR), it is necessary to appoint additional posts for the offices of the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister.
Currently, there are 146 vacant posts for office establishment of the Chief Minister's Secretariat, 72 vacant posts for Deputy Chief Minister's office and 15 vacant posts for each minister's office in the cabinet and 13 vacant posts for each state minister's office, said resolution.
Approval has been given for the same and information about the officials and employees of the Chief Minister's Secretariat, Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of State's office etc regarding which officers/employees of all the government/principal offices/autonomous institutions/corporations will be eligible for appointment and recommendation to the said post. It has been categorized into "A", "B" and "C" respectively.
The Governmnet Resolution also considered appointing private persons as officials staff of the ministers for this.
Last month, Eknath Shinde took oath as the new chief minister of Maharashtra and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis as the Deputy Chief Minister in the government. Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administered the oath of office to them at Raj Bhavan in south Mumbai.
Meanwhile, Shinde on Wednesday greeted his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray on his birthday and referring to him as the former chief minister, wished him a long and healthy life.
"Happy Birthday to Uddhavji Thackeray, Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra. May he have a long and healthy life, pray at the feet of Mother Jagdamba," tweeted the Chief Minister in Marathi.
Shinde had led a revolt of Shiv Sena MLAs and 10 independents that triggered the collapse of the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in the state.
Shinde recently formed a national executive of his faction, claiming it to be the real Shiv Sena.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led faction and the Eknath Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena have each approached the Supreme Court over seeking disqualification of 16 rebel legislators and the claim for the party's election symbol- the bow and arrow.
The Election Commission has told both the Sena factions to produce documentary evidence by August 8 to prove who represents the Maharashtra party.
The Supreme Court will hear a fresh plea on August 1 with regards to the Uddhav Thackeray-led camp of Shiv Sena seeking a stay on the proceedings before the Election Commission of India on Eknath Shinde group's claim for recognition as 'real' Shiv Sena.

Last week, the Supreme Court 3-judge bench said that some of the issues involved in the Maharashtra political crisis may require to a larger Constitutional bench for consideration.