After the Maharashtra government completes its much-anticipated cabinet reshuffle, portfolio distribution will now take at least two days, with another heavy negotiation between the three parties expected.
Addressing a press conference in Nagpur on the eve of the winter session of the state legislature, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “In the next two days, the portfolios of the cabinet will be decided.” He said that the three parties have agreed on this issue and it will be resolved without any hassle. He was accompanied by two Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar.
There are likely to be heavy talks on portfolio sharing especially in the backdrop of many key ministers of the previous grand coalition government withdrawing from Sunday’s cabinet expansion.
Former Forest Minister Sudhir Mungatiwar, Tribal Development Minister Vijay Kumar Gavit, Labor Minister Suresh Khade, Public Works Minister Rabindra Chavan have resigned from the BJP. Public Health Minister Tanaji Sawant, School Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar and Minority Development Minister Abdul Sattar were removed from Shiv Sena.
Former EGS Minister Sandipan Bhumre was elected to the Lok Sabha and his portfolio is also vacant. Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, Cooperation Minister Dilip Walse Patil, Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Anil Patil, Youth and Sports Minister Sanjay Bansode and Food and Drug Administration Minister Dharmarao Atram were removed from the CPN.
‘We worked to give an all-inclusive cabinet. We have represented all communities, women and regions. As far as the BJP is concerned, we have decided to give new responsibilities to those who have been removed,” Fadnavis said. Along with division of departments, the matter of district guardian minister allocation is also pending. Fadnavis said it is not an urgent matter and will be suspended in due course.
According to sources, all the three parties are engaged in discussions regarding the major departments.
Ahead of the expansion of the state cabinet, Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party leaders have discussed key departments like home, urban development department, revenue and housing. The Eknath Shinde-led army was earlier interested in the home department, while the NCP is eyeing housing and industry.
Fadnavis also assured that the opposition party will not reach the government on the basis of numbers. “We will not suppress the voice of the opposition and we will not withdraw from any discussion. We hope that unlike the Lok Sabha, the opposition should speak inside the House and not just in front of the media,” he said.
The opposition has boycotted the tea ceremony organized on Sunday on the eve of the winter session of the provincial assembly. In the letter sent to the government, he has raised issues such as allegations of irregularities in the use of EVMs, violence in Parbhani over desecration of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s statue, police combing operation and the killing of a sarpanch of Beed district. Which has taken the caste angle.
The opposition is trying to create a story about EVMs. But I want to tell them that, EVM means every vote for magnetic Maharashtra and that is our government. We will try to fulfill that,” Fadnavis said.
He has answered the allegations of the opposition in Parbhani and Beed incidents. ‘SIT has been constituted regarding the Beed incident. No accused will go free. Whoever the accused is. The SIT will probe and every angle will be resolved,” Fadnavis said.
He said that a mentally unstable person insulted the statue. This government considers the pride of the constitution as the highest. We do not do anything against the constitution and we also hold it in high regard,” he said. “The constitution did not allow the violent protests that took place after the incident and stone pelting and vandalism will not be spared.
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