Published 17:13 IST, January 5th 2020
Shiv Sena cedes important portfolios to alliance partners, emerges as loser
In the MVA, Shiv Sena had to cede important portfolios like Home and Finance to the alliance partners- Congress and NCP which portrays Shiv Sena as a loser.
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In Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the Shiv Sena had to cede important portfolios like Home and Finance to the alliance partners- Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which portrays Sena as a loser in its own game. While Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar has been allocated the Finance Ministry, his party colleague Anil Deshmukh is the new Home Minister of the state. Also, NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad has got the Housing Ministry.
NCP bags 16 ministerial posts
Other important portfolios such as Revenue and Public Works Department (PWD) have been allocated to Congress leaders Balasaheb Thorat and former Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan respectively. The Uddhav Thackeray led government on Saturday finally cleared allocation of portfolios to its ministers.
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It shows that the balance of power in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi has already tilted in the favour of the NCP and Congress, especially NCP supremo Sharad Pawar. The NCP has been successful in not only getting 16 ministerial posts but also retained the most crucial ministries.
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Aaditya Thackeray gets 3 portfolios
Even the Congress got crucial ministries like Revenue and PWD out of its tally of 10 which seems that the Shiv Sena has been reduced to a non-significant alliance partner in the coalition. Besides the chief minister's post, Shiv Sena has managed to get 14 other ministerial posts including Urban Development, Environment, Tourism, Transport, Agriculture and Industries.
Shiv Sena's Aaditya Thackeray has been assigned Environment, Tourism and Protocol. Senior Sena leader Subhash Desai will be handling Industries and Mining Ministry, and Eknath Shinde is the new Urban Development and Public Work (Public Undertakings) Minister.
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The other important Cabinet portfolios allocated are:
Shiv Sena: Dadaji D. Bhuse - Agriculture, Uday Samant - Higher & Technical Education, Sanjay D. Rathod - Forest, Disaster Management, R&R, Gulabrao Patil - Water Supply & Sanitation, Sandipanrao Bhumre - Employment Guarantee & Horticulture, Anil Parab - Transport & Parliamentary Affairs, Shankarrao Gadakh- Soil & Water Conservation.
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NCP: Chhagan Bhujbal - Food & Civil Supplies, Jayant Patil - Water Resources & Command Area Development, Dhananjay P. Munde - Social Justice & Special Assistance, Dilip Walse-Patil - Labour & State Excise, Nawab M. Malik - Minority Development & Wakf, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Hasan Mushrif - Rural Development, Rajendra Shingane - Food & Drugs Administration, Public Health & Family Welfare, Rajesh Tope - Public Health & Family Welfare, Balasaheb P. Patil- Cooperation & Marketing.
Congress: Varsha Gaikwad - School Education, Sunil Kedar - Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development, Sports & Youth Welfare, Vijay Wadettiwar - OBCs and all other backward classes, nomadic tribes, Khar lands development & Earthquake Rehabilitation, Amit V. Deshmukh - Medical Education & Culture, KC Padvi - Tribal Development, Aslam R. Shaikh - Textiles, Fisheries and Ports Development, Yashomati Thakur-Sonawane- Women & Child Development.
Among the 10 Ministers of State (MoS) are:
Shiv Sena's Abdul Sattar Nabi who has got Revenue and Rural Development, Shamburaj Desai - Home (Rural), Omprakash alias Bachu Kadu - Water Resources, Command Area Development, School Education, etc., and Rajendra Yadravkar (Independent MLA) - Public Health, FDA, etc.
On December 31, 36 leaders of the Shiv Sena, Congress and Nationalist Congress Party were sworn in as Cabinet ministers, taking the total strength of the Cabinet to the maximum of 43. In the 288-member Assembly, the Shiv Sena has 56 seats, NCP has 54 and the Congress has 44 seats.
17:13 IST, January 5th 2020