Maharashtra: Ministry Distribution Tussle, Important Ministries To Go To BJP Leaders
Mumbai, 10th August 2022: Eknath Shinde may have won the political battle against Uddhav Thackeray but seems to be losing in agreement with the BJP. Maharashtra’s Cabinet was expanded on Tuesday where 18 leaders were sworn in as ministers, nine of which are from the BJP, while the same number of ministers will be from the Eknath Shinde camp. However, these ministers have not been allocated portfolios yet.
According to sources, the BJP has kept most of the important ministries with itself. Allegedly, the pro-Eknath Shinde MLAs will get the same ministries as in the Uddhav Thackeray Government. Meanwhile, important ministries can go into the hands of senior BJP leaders.
Sources say that after giving the post of CM to Eknath Shinde, BJP now wants to keep its claim in the ministries strong. Under this, preparations are being made to give the Finance and Home Ministry to Devendra Fadnavis. In this way, even though Devendra Fadnavis is the Deputy CM, he will handle the arrangements of the state through the Home Ministry. The revenue, water resources, rural development, and public works departments will go to the top BJP leaders. On the other hand, the Ministry of Urban Development, PWD, will continue with Eknath Shinde, who had the same responsibility in the Uddhav Government as well.
MLA Uday Samant, a close aide of Eknath Shinde, may get the Ministry of Higher and Technical Education along with the industry. According to reports, MLAs from the Eknath Shinde faction did not benefit as much as they should have from the Shiv Sena rebellion. However, Eknath Shinde did receive the post of CM only with 40 MLAs, and the BJP wishes to take the important ministries in return. Shinde group MLAs will have to stay in old departments. Only Abdul Sattar and Shambhuraj Desai were promoted from the rank of Minister of State to the rank of Cabinet Minister, a massive advantage for the Shinde faction.
Ministries like Urban Development, General Administration, Law and Justice, Public Works (undertakings), Agriculture, Industries, Transport, and Marathi Language Development can go to the account of the Eknath Shinde faction. Apart from this, departments like Forest and Environment, Tourism, Water Supply and Sanitation, Forestry, Horticulture, Water Conservation, and Higher and Technical Education will also be given to the pro-Shinde MLAs.
The BJP is expected to get departments that will be most important and necessary for handling the state’s system. There is talk of Fadnavis himself getting a house and finance. Apart from this, important ministries like Revenue, Rural Development, Electricity, Water Resources, Housing, School Education, Public Health, and Medical Education will also be given to BJP leaders.
