Berth, not right: Aaditya may stay away from post

Amid the tussle between the Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party over the chief minister’s post, the Sena leadership is mulling if Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s

Amid the tussle between the Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party over the chief minister’s post, the Sena leadership is mulling if Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s son Aaditya should join the government as a minister.

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Party insiders said that Aaditya, who won from Worli in Mumbai, could sit out of the government and learn about the House proceedings. However, no final decision has been taken yet.

The Sena leaders had projected Aaditya as the chief ministerial face of the party before the state elections. After he won the election, demand for him to take the CM post or the deputy chief minister’s post grew.“Uddhav ji is of the opinion that Aaditya should learn the proceedings and governance for a year or two before joining the government,” a senior Sena leader told HT.

In a move that suggested Aaditya would not take up any position and remain a legislator for the time-being, the Sena chief made senior party leader and minister in the outgoing government Eknath Shinde the leader of the party’s legislative wing. Shinde won from Kopri-Panchpakhadi constituency in Thane.

Sena functionaries said Aaditya’s induction in the government would depend on the type of portfolios offered to the Sena in the power-sharing agreement. The Sena, which is eyeing the CM’s chair, is expecting key posts such as home, revenue, urban development, etc. Functionaries said the first Thackeray to contest the polls and win is unlikely to take up any insignificant portfolio.In the meeting of newly-elected MLAs, Aaditya proposed the name of Shinde to be elected as the leader, which was seconded by Thane MLA Pratap Sarnaik, Mahim MLA Sada Sarvarnkar, Ratnagiri MLA Rajan Salvi, Aurangabad MLA Sanjay Shirsat and Digras MLA Sanjay Rathod.