Published 16:26 IST, January 8th 2020
Ahead of NCP meeting, Chhagan Bhujbal denies reports of fight with Cong's Ashok Chavan
On Wednesday, senior NCP leader and Civil Supplies minister Chhagan Bhujbal denied reports that he had fought with Public Works Minister Ashok Chavan.
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On Wednesday, senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal denied reports that he had fought with Maharashtra Public Works Minister Ashok Chavan. He challenged the media to find a single eyewitness who could endorse that an argument took place between the two leaders. Bhujbal holds the Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer protection portfolios in the Maharashtra cabinet. Earlier, sources had revealed that Bhujbal and Chavan had a heated fight over who would occupy the chair close to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Meanwhile, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar has called a meeting of all MLAs in Mumbai at 5 pm on Wednesday.
Cabinet expansion in Maharashtra
A total of 12 Shiv Sena, 14 NCP, and 10 Congress MLAs were administered the oath of office and secrecy in the Maharashtra Cabinet expansion. This includes Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, Jitendra Awhad, spokesperson Nawab Malik, senior legislator Hasan Mushrif, newly-elected MLA Dhananjay Munde and Abdul Sattar, former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and the CM's son Aaditya Thackeray. This led to considerable unease in the Maha Vikas Aghadi, with many MLAs publicly voicing their displeasure after missing out on a Cabinet berth.
Infighting within Congress over Cabinet berth and portfolio
Jalna MLA Kailash Gorantyal publicly announced that he had sent his resignation to the Congress state president as he was denied a Cabinet berth. As per sources, senior party leader Mallikarjun Kharge has spoken to Gorantyal. Moreover, it is being speculated that Energy Minister Nitin Raut is unhappy as he was reportedly eyeing the portfolios assigned to Ashok Chavan and Balasaheb Thorat. Another minister Vijay Wadettiwar skipped Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting as he was allegedly miffed at not getting important portfolios.
Just before the Cabinet expansion, Maharashtra Revenue Minister Thorat admitted to the infighting in his party over the Cabinet expansion. Initially, he maintained that it was normal for the allocation of portfolios to take two to three days. Subsequently, he conceded that there was disappointment in the Congress ranks as the number of MLAs interested in becoming ministers were much more than the number of ministries allocated to the party.
Updated 16:26 IST, January 8th 2020