After NCP joins Maha govt, Shinde’s MLAs face uncertain future

After the entry of NCP's Ajit Pawar and his men, Shiv Sena is uncertain about getting ministerial berths, with only one cabinet minister vacancy remaining.

MUMBAI: After the entry and swearing-in of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and his men from the NCP, the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde is on shaky ground and uncertain about getting ministerial berths.

NCP leader and newly appointed Dy CM Ajit Pawar, NCP MP Praful Patel and NCP MLA and minsiter Chhagan Bhujbal addressing the media during press conference at Sahayadri Guest House, Malabar Hill on Sunday. (Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times)

When the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government took over last June, only 20 ministers were sworn in, including the CM and Deputy CM. This left 23 vacancies of ministers and ministers of state. On Sunday, nine MLAs of the NCP led by Pawar joined the cabinet. This leaves just one cabinet minister vacancy and thirteen ministers of state vacancies.

When CM Eknath Shinde was asked about the poor chances of his Shiv Sena MLAs being inducted as ministers, he said, “We will have a cabinet expansion. We will make our MLAs ministers. Ajit Pawar’s joining the government will help us.”

Last week, Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Shirsat had said that the cabinet expansion would happen on the weekend or the next week. “I was quite hopeful that I would be made a minister, but now there are barely any vacancies, making it difficult for us,” said a Shinde camp MLA. “Even Shinde himself is not happy with this, but since it’s a coalition government, we have to agree.”

Shiv Sena spokesperson Krishna Hegde said, “There are 14 vacancies in the cabinet and chairpersonships of several corporations to be filled. Justice will be done to all MLAs and Shiv Sena workers. Our bigger goal is the progress of the people of Maharashtra, and therefore we welcome all senior NCP ministers. Our other big goal is to win the Lok Sabha polls with 45 seats and ensure that PM Narendra Modi is back in power. We want a thumping majority in the elections and all three parties coming back to power.”

A top bureaucrat in the government said that MLAs of the Shinde camp were very pushy when it came to getting their work done. “They felt they had done Eknath Shinde a favour by joining him,” he said. “Now the government is more stable than before and we won’t always oblige them in fulfilling their demands.”