MUMBAI: With nine legislators from the Nationalist Congress Party being sworn into the cabinet on Sunday, the hunt for offices and already scarce bungalows is on in full swing.
Mumbai, India – July 03, 2023: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar with Chhagan Bhujbal, Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare and others during a press conference, at Sahyadri Guest House, in Mumbai, India, on Monday, July 03, 2023. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo)
Newly minted deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar’s men have been scouting for a space for him on the sixth floor of the Mantralaya main building. This is the ‘important’ space where CM Eknath Shinde and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis have their offices, and Pawar wants a piece of the action to show that he is second to none.
The deputy CM is choosy about his professional space on other counts as well. As deputy CM in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government, he had refused to take the office earlier occupied by Eknath Khadse, who was with the BJP for decades before resigning from the party. Pawar believed his office was jinxed and turned it down.
The space on the sixth floor, as of now, is full. The entire southern side of the floor is taken up by Shinde, the northern side by Fadnavis and one small corner is occupied by chief secretary Manoj Saunik. Sources in the public works department (PWD) said that Pawar’s aides also checked out the office of Brijesh Singh, principal secretary to the CM. However, they found the cabin too small, besides which there was no space for his secretariat.
Next, the men were also offered a cabin on the seventh floor, which was earlier occupied by Shiv Sena (UBT) minister Aaditya Thackeray. The cabin is spacious but the PWD will have to merge two or three conference rooms on the floor to create a secretariat for Pawar. “This is the first time that Maharashtra has two deputy CMs,” said an officer in the chief minister’s office. “We will now have to create space either on the sixth or the seventh floor for Pawar.”
The officer said that while office space was not such an issue, with 23 vacant offices for the other eight ministers, bungalows were in seriously short supply. “We have just seven bungalows,” he said. “Ajit Pawar will retain the Devgiri bungalow (off Napeansea Road) where he is currently staying, but one of the other ministers will have to shift to a flat in Suruchi/Suniti complex near Mantralaya.”
One reason for ministerial bungalows being scarce is the fact that ministers in the last government have taken over more than one each. Eknath Shinde, apart from the chief minister’s official bungalow Varsha, also occupies two other bungalows, Nandanvan and Agradoot, for his party work. A fourth bungalow has been converted into Balasaheb Bhavan, the Shiv Sena headquarters. Fadnavis, on his part, has two bungalows—apart from his official residence Sagar, he has got one more bungalow, Meghdoot, allotted to him.
While one bungalow in the area has been allotted to the Shiv Sena (UBT) for its office, two others are in the possession of the CBI. The investigative agency has had these since the 1993 bomb blasts but will now have to relinquish them. “We have written to the agency, asking them to vacate,” said the PWD officer.
While the problem has been solved for now, with Shiv Sena and BJP MLAs queuing up for berths in the reportedly imminent cabinet expansion, accommodating them all will be a task. Clearly importing MLAs into the government is easier than giving them houses.
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