Maharashtra Cabinet: Discontent brews in Mahayuti as 11 ministers out, Bhujbal says ‘prize’ for OBC stand

Maharashtra Cabinet: The expansion of cabinet in Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra government has triggered resentment among former ministers and some lawmakers from all the three Mahayuti allies – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Governor P C Radhakrishnan administered the oath to 39 new ministers in Fadanvis’ cabinet on Sunday. The ceremony took place just a day before the start of the winter session of the state legislature on December 16.

Among the disgruntled leaders is senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, who on Monday said that the denial of cabinet berth could be the ‘prize’ he got for standing up for the OBC community. Bhujbal admitted that he was ‘unhappy’ about not being inducted into the cabinet; however, he said he did not feel the need to hold talks with party chief Ajit Pawar on the matter.

“Seven to eight days ago, they (NCP leadership) asked me whether I want to go to Rajya Sabha, to which I said no. Resigning from the Assembly and going to Rajya Sabha would have been a betrayal to the voters of my constituency. I asked for Rajya Sabha a few months ago but was denied then. That was the only time when my party leadership called on me,” Bhujbal told reporters on Monday, a day after the cabinet expansion.

“I stood for the OBC community at a time when I was being attacked from all sides… It (denial of a Cabinet berth) could be the prize for this,” said the former minister in the previous Mahayuti government led by Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde.

As many as 11 key ministers from Maharashtra’s ruling alliance Mahayuti were dropped in the new government headed by Devendra Fadnavis.

The NCP, led by Ajit Pawar, has seen five leaders dropped, including Chhagan Bhujbal, Dharmarao Baba Atram, Sanjay Bansode, Dilip Walse Patil and Anil Patil. Three leaders have each been dropped from the BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

The BJP has dropped Ravindra Chavan, Sudhir Mungantiwar and Vijaykumar Gavit, while the Sena has kept out Tanaji Sawant, Abdul Sattar and Deepak Kesarkar.

Sudhir Mungantiwar contradicts Fadnavis

Sudhir Mungantiwar contradicted CM Devendra Fadnavis’s claim that he was dropped after a “long discussion.” He said Fadnavis had no discussions with him about a ministerial post. Mungantiwar added that Fadnavis and state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule had told him his name was on the list of ministers a day before the cabinet expansion, but it turned out otherwise, according to  NDTV.

Shiv Sena lawmaker Rajendra Gavit, a tribal leader who was also not inducted into the Cabinet, expressed his displeasure that not a single tribal face from the Sena was included in the ministry despite the party having five to six tribal MLAs.

Vijay Shivtare, the Shiv Sena MLA from Purandar, said he was “not sad over ministership, but the treatment meted out.” 

“The three leaders didn’t communicate properly. I will not take ministership even if given after 2.5 years,” he told reporters, referring to the two-and-a-half-year formula for ministers who were inducted.

The BJP, which won 132 seats in the assembly elections, got the largest chunk of 16 ministers of Cabinet rank and three Ministers of State. Shiv Sena was allotted nine Cabinet ministers and two MoS, while the NCP has eight ministers of Cabinet rank and a minister of state.

The swearing-in ceremony of 39 ministers was held at Raj Bhavan in Nagpur on December 15. This was the first such ceremony in the city since the expansion of the Sudhakarrao Naik cabinet 33 years ago, in 1991.

On December 5, Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as Chief Minister, with Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde and NCP chief Ajit Pawar as his deputies.