The team of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was expanded with the induction of 18 new ministers here on Tuesday.

Attempting a balancing act, Shinde inducted nine ministers from his group and 9 from the ally Bharatiya Janata Party, over 40 days after the duo took over on June 30 after the collapse of the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi government headed by former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

The ministers inducted from the Shinde group are Gulabrao Patil, Dadaji Bhuse, Sanjay Rathod, Sandipan Bhumre, Uday Samant, Tanaji Sawant, Abdul Sattar, Deepak Kesarkar, and Shambhuraj Desai.

The BJP MLAs sworn in as ministers are Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil. Chandrakant Patil. Sudhir Mungantiwar. Girish Mahajan. Vijaykumar Gavit. Suresh Khade, Atul Save, Ravindra Chavan, and Mangal Prabhat Lodha.

Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers at a function in Raj Bhavan in the presence of Shinde, Fadnavis, Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar, other legislators from various political parties, and officials. (AA/IANS)