Even after 10 days of Ajit Pawar joining the Eknath Shinde government in Maharashtra, he and his supporters have not been able to get portfolios. Churning is going on in BJP, Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) and NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) on the issue of portfolio allocation. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Power have also held three rounds of talks, but no solution seems to be coming out. Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel have now turned to Delhi. It is being told that they will meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah here.
On the other hand, Eknath Shinde held a meeting with Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar at his residence on Tuesday to end the deadlock over cabinet expansion in Maharashtra. According to the information received, CM Eknath Shinde is adamant on announcing the division of departments only after the cabinet expansion.
It is noteworthy that, on July 2, Ajit Pawar rebelled against NCP chief Sharad Pawar and joined the Shinde government. He has been made deputy CM in the government. Apart from this, 8 of his MLAs also took oath as ministers. However, none of the leaders including Ajit have got portfolios. In such a situation, Ajit Pawar is now asking for portfolios on priority basis for the leaders of his party.
NCP can get four ministerial posts
Maharashtra has a total of 42 ministerial posts. Of these, 14 are still vacant. According to sources, Ajit Pawar can be given four ministerial posts. While BJP and Shinde faction will get 5-5 ministerial posts. However, the BJP Assembly is ready to press for expansion after the monsoon session. This is because ever since the NCP has been inducted into the state cabinet, a large number of disgruntled MLAs from the Shiv Sena and the BJP are eyeing ministerial berths.
Sources have also indicated that Ajit Pawar is seeking Finance, Energy, Housing and Water portfolios. However, Eknath Shinde is not in favor of removing any Shiv Sena’s current minister or changing the department. Sources said that there is also speculation that the BJP may remove senior ministers and is not in favor of giving them important organizational posts. In such a situation, the party is expecting dissatisfaction. In such a situation, BJP is in favor of delaying the expansion before the upcoming elections.
