Clamour in Ajit Pawar-led NCP for ministerial berths

MUMBAI: It’s not just Eknath Shinde who is struggling to accommodate his MLAs in the new Mahayuti ministerial council. With a limited number of berths, Ajit Pawar too is in the same situation; with the senior leaders of his party unwilling to make room for new faces, Ajit is in a dilemma over who to accommodate. The deputy chief minister does not want to upset the seniors who chose to side with him when he rebelled against uncle Sharad Pawar but at the same time, he feels the need to induct some young legislators as ministers.

The NCP is likely to get a maximum of ten berths in the new government. The deputy chief minister wanted to bring new faces into the Mahayuti 2.0 government and accordingly requested senior leaders such as Dilip Walse Patil, Chhagan Bhujbal and Dharamraobaba Atram to allow him to do so. He has also requested Sanjay Bansode to not ask for a ministerial berth this time. Walse Patil was cooperation minister, Bhujbal was food and civil supplies minister, Atram was food and drugs administration minister and Bansode was sports and youth development minister in the previous Mahayuti government.

In the last government, the NCP had nine cabinet berths but this time in all likelihood it will get seven cabinet posts and three junior minister positions. This means Ajit will have to cut at least two names from the list of probables.

The NCP was trying to get a governor position for Walse Patil from the BJP. He had agreed to this but is now again pushing for a ministerial berth, NCP insiders revealed. “The party leadership is in a Catch-22 situation,” said a senior NCP leader privy to the development. “They will have to remove a few old names and add new ones in the list of probables.” Added another leader, “If Ajit Dada comes under pressure, the changes will be limited, but if not, you will be able to see many fresh faces from the NCP in the new government.”

Among the new faces, the party is keen on Dattatray Bharne, Makarand Patil and Manikrao Kokate among others. It also wants to induct Indraneel Naik and Sangram Jagtap as junior ministers.

Apart from ten berths, the party is likely to get the deputy speaker position and a ministerial berth in the central cabinet. The NCP’s Narhari Zirwal held the position in the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government and the Mahayuti government, but this time he too wants to become a minister and has started saying this publicly.

Ajit Pawar was in Delhi for the last two days to finalise a power-sharing formula. On Thursday, he also met union home minister Amit Shah to get his share of the pie as the first expansion of the Mahayuti 2.0 government is likely to happen soon.