Published 19:49 IST, January 1st 2020
Maharashtra's Congress ministers in big tug-of-war over portfolios, NCP dithers: Sources
Uddhav Thackeray might have formed his government, but he has not been able to satisfy the members of his party or his allies over portfolio allocation
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After taking oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra along with six ministers from Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena - Uddhav Thackeray managed to get his Cabinet in place on December 3. However, the CM is now facing a new problem - distribution of portfolios.
Uddhav Thackeray is holding back-to-back meetings with Congress and NCP over portfolio allocation but is facing a fight within the treasury benches.
Tussle over portfolios
Sources have confirmed to Republic TV that, “Over Portfolio's allocation, Congress ministers are fighting within the party.”
Elaborating on this, sources stated that, “In an ongoing meeting of Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi i.e Shiv Sena, Congress, and NCP, Maharashtra cabinet minister Ashok Chavan has demanded Revenue department as well as Public Works Department (PWD). Chavan made his stand clear and said that he won’t accept any other portfolios lower than Revenue and PWD portfolio. The issue is that Balasaheb Thorat has also demanded the Revenue portfolio and stated that the portfolio was with him and will continue to remain his."
The source further stated that Nitin Raut and Vijay Wadettiwar have also asked for PWD portfolio, which is Chavan's second demand. Raut and Wadettiwar have demanded PWD in front of CM Thackeray.
Even though it was clear that NCP's Dhananjay Munde was keeping a close eye on PWD portfolio and even discussed the same with Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, it seems like Pawar already alerted Munde to not to demand for the same as there’s a rift within Congress Ministers. Munde agreed to the request but then demanded for Water Resources department.
In the midst, NCP also put forth their demands. Sources said to Republic TV, "CM Uddhav Thackeray proposes Nawab Malik for State Excise Duty Ministry, whereas Nawab Malik demanded for Labor Department and Chhagan Bhujbal is not happy with Food and Civil Ministry whereas he is demanding for Rural Development." The final call will be taken by CM Uddhav Thackeray.
In MVA, it seems like many senior leaders want plump portfolios and are not ready to settle for relatively smaller or unimportant portfolios.
Although Shiv Sena had given up the Home Ministry portfolio to NCP, the latter is not sure about whom to allocate the portfolio.
Talking about the cabinet expansion, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut was also hoping that his brother Sunil Raut, an MLA from Mumbai, would get a ministerial berth as a reward for his role in the government formation. But Sunil Raut went out of the list, which causes disappointment within the party.
Meanwhile, Congress faced violent protests by one of its MLAs when supporters of congress MLA Sangram Thopate vandalized the party's office in Pune.
19:49 IST, January 1st 2020