Resentment growing within Maharashtra govt for delay in Cabinet expansion

The new BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP ruling coalition in Maharashtra is facing a major challenge in doing a balancing act in the form of a smooth portfolio allocation as delay in Cabinet expansion is making the MLAs of the three parties restless.

The primary challenge that the coalition is facing is fairly distributing the portfolios among regions and communities, besides maintaining the senior-junior equation. Also, the distribution of district guardian ministership is getting far more complex.

After the weekly Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the two Deputy Chief Ministers - Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar held a closed-door meeting to discuss the issues that have cropped up.

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Since the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly comprises 288 members, the maximum ministers that the government can have is 43. As of now, there are 29 ministers - Shiv Sena (10), BJP (10) and NCP (9) - and hence, there are 14 vacancies.

Maharashtra has 36 districts spread across five regions - Konkan, Western Maharashtra, North Maharashtra, Marathwada and Vidarbha - and already demands have been raised from three sides, making the process complex.

Besides, the Sword of Damocles hanging over Shinde and 15 MLAs because of the disqualification plea and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) moving the Supreme Court seeking directions for Speaker Rahul Narwekar has added tension in the Shiv Sena camp.

A large number of Shiv Sena MLAs are unhappy over Shinde keeping them in the dark about NCP’s entry. The number of ministerial posts have also been reduced in their quota because of NCP’s addition.

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“We have worked in the ministry for several years. There are no issues. After the Cabinet meeting, the three of us (Shinde, Fadnavis and Pawar) met and discussed it. The President is in Nagpur so they (Shinde and Fadnavis) had to go and receive her. Once they are back tonight, we would be meeting again and would come back to you,” Pawar told media.

However, state NCP President Jayant Patil, who owes allegiance to Sharad Pawar, said that the MLAs of Shinde are unhappy. “The issue for which they left Balasaheb Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, they are now facing the same problem yet again,” he said. “This resentment is going to grow,” he added.

Shinde holds the ministries of general administration, urban development, information and publicity, public works (public undertakings), transport, among others. Fadnavis holds the coveted portfolios of home, finance and planning, energy, protocol, law and judiciary and water resources.

Veteran politician Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil of BJP is incharge of revenue, animal husbandry and dairy development portfolios. Former state BJP president Chandrakant Patil is incharge of higher and technical education, textiles and parliamentary affairs ministry, while Sudhir Mungantiwar holds the forest and cultural affairs ministries.

Fadnavis' aide Girish Mahajan was given the rural development and panchayat raj, medical education and sports and youth affairs ministry. If one looks at seniority, NCP has several senior ministers like Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse-Patil and Hasan Mushrif.