Berth of a tussle: Sena silent on Maharashtra cabinet rejig

Disgruntled legislators start lobbying, but party wary of going after power, while attacking ally BJP

A day after Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray avoided any direct criticism of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and any reference to alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), there is no clarity if the party will participate in the cabinet expansion this month. Senior Sena leaders said they are wary of participating in the expansion, as it could signal that it is going after power, while it is attacking the BJP over various issues.

According to a Sena functionary, a few party legislators from rural Maharashtra have met Thackeray to lobby for cabinet berths. (HT FILE)

Earlier this week, Fadnavis announced in Solapur that the expansion of his cabinet will “happen soon”, but BJP leaders said it is expected to be done before the end of the month.

The issue of accepting more cabinet berths could be a tricky one for Thackeray, as there are many disgruntled party MLAs, who have demanded a reshuffle of Sena ministers. It’ll be a tightrope walk for Thackeray to balance party’s demands and the course of action keeping the 2019 polls in mind. “They [BJP] have not sought any names from Uddhavji for expansion. We will wait and see if there is any cabinet expansion. So far, we have not even started drawing up a list,” said a Sena leader, requesting anonymity.

Another senior party leader said they could avoid participating in the expansion exercise with the BJP and do it after some time. “We have been taking an anti-BJP stand all along. It would not be correct to be engaged in an exercise with them to get more cabinet berths. However, the leadership will take a final call soon,” the leader added.

Thackeray in his party’s Dussehra rally on Thursday devoted a majority of the time to project the Sena as the flag-bearer of Hindutva and to slam the BJP for “forgetting” its poll promise to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya. Although Thackeray attacked the Maharashtra government over its delay in declaring drought in the state, he steered clear of making any reference to Sena-BJP alliance or taking on Fadnavis.

According to a Sena functionary, a few party legislators from rural Maharashtra have met Thackeray to lobby for cabinet berths. Earlier, Sena MLAs had asked Thackeray to replace non-performing Sena ministers. Out of the five cabinet ministers, four are MLCs. There is a growing demand within the party to give the party’s MLAs a cabinet berth. “A few MLAs have met Uddhavji; some even from Marathwada region have demanded cabinet berths. But Uddhavji has taken no decision so far,” he said.