While the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was given a Ministerial berth in the new Council of Ministers, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction of Deputy CM Ajit Pawar on June 9 declined the BJP’s offer of a Minister of State position with Independent charge.
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Earlier in the day, Maharashtra BJP leader and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis met with his counterpart Mr. Pawar and senior NCP leaders Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare even as six MPs from Maharashtra — four from the BJP including stalwart Nitin Gadkari and one from the Shinde-led Shiv Sena — were given Ministerial berths.
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In a bid to dispel the notion of any discord within the Mahayuti allies, Mr. Fadnavis told reporters in Delhi that while the BJP had offered a Minister of State (Independent charge) post for the NCP, Mr. Pawar’s NCP wanted a Cabinet berth and wanted Mr. Patel to be given the post.
However, given the compulsions and the calculations that come into play in a coalition, Mr. Fadnavis said that they could not offer the NCP faction a Cabinet berth as yet and that the party was willing to wait till an expansion of the Central Cabinet to be given a berth.
Speaking to reporters later, Mr. Pawar said: “Praful Patel has already served as a Cabinet Minister at the Centre and we did not feel right in taking the post of MoS with Independent charge. So, we told the BJP that while we are willing to wait for some time, we want a Cabinet berth.”
Mr. Pawar’s faction had performed disastrously in the Lok Sabha election, winning just one of the four seats it contested, while Mr. Shinde’s Shiv Sena had managed to win seven of 15 seats it fought.
The NCP leader further said he had told the BJP leadership that while his faction had one Lok Sabha (Sunil Tatkare) and one Rajya Sabha MP (Praful Patel) today, the NCP was sure of having three members in the Rajya Sabha in the next two to three months. (alluding to the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in the State).
“Given that our total number of MPs in Parliament would rise to four, we had urged the BJP leadership including Amit Shah that we should be given at least one Cabinet seat,” Mr. Pawar said.
The BJP leadership had said it could offer the NCP only an MoS with Independent charge and that this was the same offer they had made to the Mr. Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
Meanwhile, Mr. Patel said that he had reservations about taking up the MoS post as he had already been a Cabinet Minister in the past.
“We informed the BJP about our issues. They have told us to wait for a few days and that they would take remedial measures. This does not mean there is any discord between us [BJP and NCP],” he said.
