 "Aaditya Thackeray only Maharashtra cabinet minister from Sena who is MLA")
With Maharashtra cabinet minister Uday Samant reaching Guwahati on Sunday to join the Eknath Shinde-led faction, Aaditya Thackeray is now the only cabinet minister from the Shiv Sena quota who is an MLA, while the remaining three from his party are MLCs.
Samant, who headed Higher and Technical Education ministry, became the ninth minister of Shiv Sena to join the Eknath Shinde camp.
The Sena now has four cabinet ministers, including CM Uddhav Thackeray, Aaditya Thackeray, Anil Parab, and Subhash Desai.
Barring Aaditya, the rest three are MLCs.
Another cabinet minister and MLA is Krantikari Shetkari Paksh leader Shankarrao Gadakh, an ally of Sena.
In the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by the Sena, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party had 10 Cabinet-rank ministers before the rebellion and four Ministers of State (MoS), including two from the Sena quota.
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All the four MoS have joined the rebel camp in Guwahati.
The other cabinet ministers of Sena currently camping in Guwahati are Eknath Shinde, Gulabrao Patil, Sandipan Bhumre, Dada Bhuse, and Uday Samant.
The Ministers of State belonging to Shiv Sena who have turned into dissidents are Shambhuraje Desai and Abdul Sattar while Bachchu Kadu (Prahar Janshakti Party) and Rajendra Yedravkar (Independent) come from the Sena quota.
Among the four existing Cabinet ministers who come from Shiv Sena, Desai ceases to be an MLC next month as he was not renominated for another term in the Legislative Council polls held recently.
The Maharashtra council of ministers has 31 Cabinet ministers and ten MoS.
Forest minister and Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Rathod had resigned last year in connection with a criminal case. The chief minister is handling the forest portfolio.