Cabinet expansion: The ruling Shiv Sena in Maharashtra on Thursday (July 13) said that the expansion of the state cabinet and allocation of portfolios are likely to take place tomorrow, on which the rival Uddhav faction took a swipe raising doubts if the MLAs from the Eknath Shinde camp will be given a place in the new ministry.
On July 2, senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar and eight other legislators of his party took oath as ministers in the Maharashtra government. The surprise move led to a split in the Sharad Pawar-led party.
The latest induction of the NCP MLAs into the ruling Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, has given rise to speculations of a possible tussle over the portfolios’ allocation.
Ruling Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Shirsat on Thursday said the expansion of the cabinet and the allocation of portfolios are "99 per cent" likely to happen on Friday. However, his party colleague and minister Uday Samant stressed that it would take place at an "appropriate time".
Shiv Sena (UBT) takes swipe
The Shiv Sena (UBT), in a swipe at the ruling faction, said that it is doubtful if the MLAs of the Shinde side would be accommodated in the cabinet.
Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, Ambadas Danve, who belongs to the Sena (UBT), said it will be difficult for the BJP to satisfy the people they have pulled together.
“It is not impossible, but it is very difficult to meet the expectations of MLAs of the three parties. There is an imbalance of the number of MLAs who want to become a minister and actual posts available. There is a lot of discontent among the BJP workers,” he said.
He added that the cabinet expansion would be a challenging task in such a case.
"There is still no allocation of portfolios (to the NCP MLAs who took oath as ministers), so when will another round of cabinet expansion take place? It appears that the new suit they have switched is likely to remain unused," Danve said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said it was doubtful that cabinet expansion would happen because it would lead to an explosion of anger in the two ruling groups - the Shiv Sena and the NCP.
"All the ministers from the Ajit Pawar faction are heavyweights who have served as deputy chief minister, home minister…so they will need to be given portfolios of that stature. On the other hand, the Shinde faction will have to suffice over peanuts," the Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member said.
(With PTI inputs)
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