JE News Desk: An intense jostle for cabinet portfolios has begun in Maharashtra. With the induction of nine NCP MLAs, including newly appointed Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Shiv Sena MLAs are feeling the heat amid murmurs that they may lose key portfolios like finance to the new Ministers.
The final decision to allocate ministers to the NCP rebels could be taken on Wednesday, sources quoted by Times of India said. They also said that Ajit Pawar is likely to get the key Finance Ministry.
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This apparently has not gone down well with the leaders of the Shinde-led faction of Shiv Sena. They have asked “will it (joining of NCP rebels in Maharashtra government) shrink their political space in the state?”, Sanjay Shirsat, spokesperson for the Shinde faction said, according to a PTI report.
When they had rebelled against the Maha Vikas Aghadi government (coalition of Congress, Shiv Sena and NCP) these same leaders had cited then Finance Minister Ajit Pawar not allocating enough funds for the development of their constituencies as one of the reasons for their shift. So now, these MLAs are asking present Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde to not give the Finance portfolio to Ajit Pawar, according to sources quoted by India Today.
They have reportedly insisted that other key portfolios like power, irrigation and cooperation and marketing (which oversees cooperatives) to be kept with themselves. The Shiv Sena had similar portfolios when Uddhav Thackeray was the Chief Minister and so they should keep these even now, they argued.
Ajit Pawar and MLAs loyal to him rebelled against his uncle Sharad Pawar and joined Maharashtra’s coalition government of BJP and Shinde Shiv Sena on July 2. This caused a split in the Nationalist Congress Party but Ajit Pawar claims to command the support of 40 of the party’s 53 MLAs, well over the 2/3rd majority (of NCP MLAs) he needs to avoid getting disqualified.
Ajit Pawar was quickly sworn-in as the Deputy Chief Minister and eight others as Minister but they remain without any portfolios. He and his uncle Sharad Pawar have both sacked leaders of each other’s factions from key positions and claimed that their faction is the real NCP.
Sharad Pawar-led NCP has sought the disqualification of Ajit Pawar and eight other MLAs who joined the government on July 2. Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar’s faction has demanded the disqualification of Maharashtra NCP chief Jayant Patil and present Leader of Opposition Jitendra Awhad as Members of the Legislative Assembly.
(With agency inputs)