Of the 11 Shiv Sena MLAs sworn in as ministers on Sunday — nine cabinet and two ministers of state — the party has retained five ministers and dropped three who were part of the previous Mahayuti government.
The party has given opportunity to 6 new faces including those who came for the first time.
While inducting MLAs into the cabinet, an Sena functionary said party chief and deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde has played a strategic balancing act on regional fronts and caste lines in view of the upcoming civic polls. There is representation from all the five provinces of the state.
Shinde is now banking on a two-and-a-half-year rotation policy for ministers to appease MLAs who missed the bus this time.
In the regional division, Shinde has given maximum representation to the Konkan region by selecting three ministers from there, followed by two ministers each from North Maharashtra, West Maharashtra, Vidarbha and Mumbai Metropolitan Region and one from Marathwada.
“Shinde ji has sent a strong message to his flock that in his eyes there is no room for controversy and non-performance, but he is careful and considerate to give opportunities to his loyal and fresh faces by representing all five areas in the cabinet for expansion of the army across the state,” the army chief said. That Shinde plans to introduce a 2.5-year rotation formula for ministers through which more MLAs can be given. the opportunity
‘Many people have the ability to become ministers. As a party, we have decided to give the post of minister for two and a half years. This will give many more opportunities,’ said Shinde.
While the Sena has two ministers from MMR including Shinde and Pratap Sarnaik from Thane, the party has not picked any from Mumbai, which is crucial for the party considering the upcoming civic polls.
Shinde retained five of the nine former ministers – Gulabrao Patil and Dada Bhuse (North Maharashtra), Sanjay Rathore from Vidarbha, Uday Samant from Konkan and Shambhuraj Desai from West Maharashtra, he removed Tanaji Sawant, Deepak Kesarkar and Abdul Sattar. Nine ministers in his cabinet. The ninth minister, Sandipan Bhumre, became an MP in the recent Lok Sabha elections.
Sawant, Sattar and Kesarkar, were in the news for making several “controversial” statements.
Sawant had recently made a statement against the Mahayuti coalition partner NCP saying that he felt thrown out while sitting with NCP ministers and leaders.
Similarly in the case of Sattar, who was the lone Muslim MLA in the Shiv Sena, local BJP workers accused him of working against the party’s Lok Sabha candidate Raosaheb Danve and refused to campaign for him in the assembly elections.
Kesarkar also courted controversy when, after the demolition of Shivaji’s statue in Malvan, he made a statement that “something good can come out of the destruction of Shivaji Maharaj’s statue” and suggested that a new 100-foot statue be built at the same site.
An Army source said, “With a limited number of cabinet berths, it was important for the party to give opportunities to new faces as well. Hence, some ministers had to be dropped.
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