'Govt like an autorickshaw, won't last long': Athawale opines on Maha Vikas Aghadi

With the expansion of Maharashtra cabinet on December 30, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Wednesday said that the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena-Congress -NCP government in Maharashtra was akin to three-wheeler vehicle (auto-rickshaw), and that it would not last long. Earlier this month Athawale had advised Shiv Sena to break its alliance with the Congress party in Maharashtra after Rahul Gandhi's 'Savarkar' remark. Athawale had earlier cited the growing fissures in the alliance with the Shiv Sena coming out strongly in support of Veer Savarkar. 

Athwale further took an apparent jibe over Shiv Sena over alleged rumours of friction within the party over the Minstererial post portfolios. Earlier on Wednesday, Maharashtra Minister Balasaheb Thorat said that many MLAs wanted to be included in the Cabinet but there were less Ministerial berths in the government. There were also rumours that Sunil Raut was triggered after his elder brother and Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut was not seen at the Cabinet expansion.

Exuding confidence over the fallout of the Sena-NCP-Cong government Athawale said, "Who knows how long the government of Uddhav Thackeray will last. There is a fight for the minister posts, for the portfolio. There is a great deal of anger among those who have been denied the minister's post."

"If NCP and Congress have the mandate to sit in opposition they should not have come together with Shiv Sena. The government is like an auto-rickshaw that will not last long. I think there was a requirement of a four-wheeler," he said.

READ: Sena 'betrayed' BJP, public mandate in Maharashtra: Fadnavis

BJP slams Shiv Sena for its flip-flop over Aslam Shaikh

On Tuesday, BJP slammed Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for inducting Congress MLA Aslam Shaikh into the Cabinet. Former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya highlighted the alleged double standards of Shiv Sena which had dubbed Shaikh as a 'traitor' in 2015 for demanding the commutation of convict Yakub Memon’s death sentence. He contended that the same individual had become a ‘patriot’ for the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. 

READ: Maharashtra's Congress ministers in big tug-of-war over portfolios, NCP dithers: Sources

Maharashtra cabinet expansion

The Winter session of the Maharashtra Assembly was held from December 16 to December 21 in Nagpur. The Opposition has slammed the delay, saying not many issues were debated and resolved in the Nagpur Assembly. Maharashtra can have a maximum of 43 ministers. The size of the council of ministers cannot exceed 15 per cent of the total number of MLAs, which is 288 in the state.

Uddhav Thackeray was sworn in as the chief minister of Maharashtra on November 28 along with six ministers — two each from alliance partners the Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress. 

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(With Inputs from ANI)