Irked over portfolio delay, Ajit Pawar reaches Delhi Darbar

STRAP: CM Shinde adamant about not giving up Sena depts

Mumbai: Irked about the delay in portfolio distribution even 10 days after the swearing-in ceremony and two marathon meetings, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, along with senior NCP leader Praful Patel, reached the ‘Delhi Darbar’ on Wednesday evening to seek the intervention of union home minister Amit Shah.

The CM Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has reportedly been aggressively resisting giving up the portfolios held by its ministers to accommodate the NCP. After talks in late-night meetings held in the last two days among Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar failed on account of Shinde’s tough stand, Pawar proceeded to Delhi to seek Shah’s intervention. This is the first time in his political career that he has been forced to approach the higher authorities to solve a problem. Before leaving for Delhi, Ajit held a meeting of the ministers who took oath with him and discussed the situation.

Several departments held by NCP ministers during the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government such as social justice, excise and FDA are with Shiv Sena ministers now. “The induction of NCP ministers in the cabinet has reduced the Sena’s share,” said a person from the Ajit Pawar faction. “Besides, some of the portfolios that the NCP ministers are expecting are with Shinde’s partymen. So there was strong resistance from Shinde to giving them up.”

Apart from the portfolio tug-of-war, there is also a dispute over the guardian ministerships of some districts as well as cabinet berths. Besides the Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Shirsat and Bharat Gogawale, independent MLA Ashish Jaiswal has also staked a claim to a ministerial berth.

The Sena has aggressively affirmed that Shinde will be a hard nut to crack. “After the induction of the NCP legislators in the cabinet, there was a perception that the NCP and BJP would dominate the state government and would corner Shinde,” said an office-bearer from the Shinde-led Sena. “But he asserted his authority and did not succumb to pressure. The message from the CM was very clear: that he could not be taken for granted. We can give up some departments but as of now we have refused to give up the social justice department held by Shinde and agriculture which is with Abdul Sattar. The very fact that Pawar had to visit Delhi is proof that Shinde has taken a tough stand.”

Former minister and independent MLA Bacchu Kadu, who is a supporter of Shinde, again raised his voice against giving the finance department to Ajit Pawar. “Many Shiv Sena MLAs fear that if Ajit Pawar becomes finance minister, he will again use the same tactics of giving development funds to NCP leaders in Shiv Sena MLAs’ constituencies,” he said.

Meanwhile, NCP state president Sunil Tatkare claimed to the media on Wednesday evening that all was well, and issues like portfolio distribution and cabinet expansion would be resolved by Thursday. “Some people were spreading rumours that CM Shinde had objected to giving the finance department to the NCP,” he said. “All three parties have decided to work together, so that there is no dispute. All issues will be resolved by tomorrow.” Tatkare added that Ajit Pawar had not visited Delhi since he took oath and that was the reason for his visit.

Contradicting Tatkare’s words, a BJP office-bearer indicated that the issues were unlikely to be resolved by Thursday. “There is a full-day meeting of BJP leaders in Bhiwandi on Thursday,” he said. “Therefore, if the Shinde-Fadnavis-Pawar government decides on a cabinet expansion, it will only be on Friday.”

Shiv Sena spokesperson Krishna Hegde, also presenting a rosy picture, said that allocation of portfolios was being done “with utmost urgency so that all the parties get justice”. “The allocation is being done by Eknath Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar in final consultation with the BJP top brass,” he said. “It will be a win-win situation for everyone.”