Maharastra cabinet expansion: Ajit Pawar gets finance and planning portfolio

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde distributed portfolios to newly inducted NCP ministers. Pawar, despite resistance from Shiv Sena leaders, was given the finance and planning portfolio. The move came after NCP leader Sharad Pawar appointed his daughter and colleague as working party presidents. The BJP had to let go of six portfolios and Shiv Sena had to concede four to accommodate the new ministers. The Ajit Pawar-led faction was able to gain control of the cooperation department, which has historically been held by the NCP and Congress.

Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde on Friday distributed fresh portfolios to the newly inducted Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) ministers. Shinde despite resistance from Shiv Sena leaders awarded the finance and planning portfolio to Pawar.

aharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde on Friday distributed fresh portfolios to the newly inducted Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) ministers (File Photo)

Pawar, who was promised the ministry by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), took oath along with eight other NCP MLAs, on July 2 and joined the ruling alliance led by CM Shinde.

Pawar, who was also the finance minister in the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, snapped ties and joined the Shinde faction by gaining the support of 29 NCP MLAs.

The move came three weeks after NCP chief Sharad Pawar appointed his daughter Supriya Sule and senior party colleague Praful Patel as working party presidents. The younger Pawar was rumoured to be unhappy about being denied the party’s state unit chief post.

Sena leaders had previously expressed discontent following the Ajit Pawar-led split within the NCP, fearing they would lose out on the opportunity to get desired ministerial positions in the Maharashtra cabinet.

Until now, the finance department was with deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. This is the fourth time Pawar will handle the crucial finance portfolio which controls funding to various government departments.

To accommodate the nine ministers of the Ajit Pawar-led faction, the BJP had to let go of six portfolios while the Shinde-led Shiv Sena had to concede four.

The cooperation, food and civil supply, women and child development, medical education and special assistance, and sports and youth welfare portfolios, which were with the BJP have now been transferred to the newly inducted NCP leaders.

While from Shiv Sena, the portfolios of agriculture, food and drug administration, relief and rehabilitation, disaster management and special assistance departments were reallocated.

Interestingly, the Ajit Pawar-led faction has been able to wrest the cooperation department, which has been a stronghold of the NCP and Congress for decades. BJP’s Atul Save was handling the portfolio until now.

NCP heavyweight Chhagan Bhujbal has been given the food, civil supply and consumer protection portfolio. He had the same departments in the previous MVA government. Pawar was demanding the state excise department for Bhujbal but BJP chose to keep it with them.

Dhananjay Munde is the new agriculture minister in the coalition government. The portfolio was previously with Abdul Sattar.

Hasan Mushrif was given the medical education and special assistance ministry; the women and child development department has been given to Aditi Tatkare; Dharmrao Atram has got the food and drug administration (FDA) department, which was earlier with Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Rathod.

Sanjay Bansode has been given the sports and youth welfare ministry, which was with BJP’s Girish Mahajan. Anil Patil will look after relief and rehabilitation and disaster management.

“The powers for allocation of portfolios are with the chief minister Ekanth Shinde. We have joined his cabinet and are ready to take up whatever responsibility is being given by him,” Pawar said on Friday afternoon.

In the reshuffle, BJP’s Mangal Prabhat Lodha lost the tourism department apart from women and child development. He will now be overseeing the skill development, entrepreneurship and innovation department.

Shinde-led Shiv Sena upset :

The postponement of cabinet expansion is being seen as another setback for the CM Shinde-led Shiv Sena that has been insisting on it. Sena leaders were also said to be upset after NCP was taken as another ally in the coalition government.

They expressed displeasure after the Ajit Pawar-led NCP bagged finance, cooperation, agriculture, excise, and energy. CM Shinde has also sought cabinet expansion as many of his MLAs, who are waiting for more than a year, wanted to become ministers.

Differences could not be resolved as neither Shiv Sena nor the NCP were ready to leave their claims to certain departments. Pawar along with Praful Patel had to go to Delhi to meet Union home minister Amit Shah to sort out the issues.

School education minister and Shiv Sena MLA Deepak Kesarkar, however, denied that there was any resentment among the allies. He said that the reshuffle took place with consensus of the concerned Sena ministers who had to vacate their departments for NCP.

“Sattar was asked if he has any objection if his department is changed. He agreed to it after which the decision was taken,” Kesarkar said, adding: “It is a coalition government and all the decisions are being taken unanimously”.