Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 5: Within months of the Shiv Sena threatened to walk out of the Maharashtra government if the BJP accepted the Nationalist Congress Party in its fold, the chief minister Eknath Shinde was compelled to sit on the dais to see that Ajit Pawar and eight others are being sworn-in as ministers in his cabinet.
Following overtures a couple of months ago that Ajit Pawar might engineer a split in the NCP and join the government, Shinde himself had cautioned the BJP leadership that it would not appreciate the idea and might be forced to walk-out of the government. He, however, did not when the inevitable actually happened on Sunday and he as the chief minister had to take Ajit Pawar as his second deputy and eight other NCP members as ministers.
Barely 48 hours after the NCP joined the ministry, the resentment of a section of leaders from the ruling BJP as well as the Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction against Pawar’s NCP group grew more pronounced as the impending portfolio allocation threatened to snuff out their Ministerial ambitions.
At a time when the Shinde camp leaders, who had rebelled against the party on lure of power were still waiting for their turn in the one year long-pending exercise of the second phase of the Maharashtra Cabinet expansion, the alacrity with which the nine NCP leaders, including Ajit Pawar, were sworn in on Sunday has chagrined many Shinde Sena MLAs.
The dramatic turn of events on Sunday had followed months of speculation that Ajit Pawar was cosying up to the ruling BJP when the Shinde faction had cautioned the BJP against the move and had threatened to walk out of the government. The disquiet in the Sena – BJP camp was further accentuated on Wednesday when the during the course of his sermonising his 83-year old uncle Sharad Pawar to formally “retire” from politics, Ajit Pawar declared that he would not remain satisfied with the post of deputy chief minister but aspired to become the chief minister. His ambitious pronouncement did not augur well for Shinde and the other deputy chief minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis either.
Apparently not all is well in Shiv Sena-BJP camp in Maharashtra NCP’s entry. It is believed, there is a growing displeasure among the MLAs of the Shinde group over the allocation of portfolios also. Ajit Pawar is reported to be eying certain key portfolios, including finance, planning and cooperatives and the Sena faction is averse giving finance and several other key portfolios to Pawar.
After reports that the NCP leaders who have lent their support to Shiv Sena-BJP-led Maharashtra government may get creamy departments, the CM camp MLAs have started to revolt. They have demanded that Finance, Water Resources and Public Works Ministries should not be given to NCP. In fact, the MLAs of Shinde group are afraid that if Ajit Pawar is given the finance ministry, then he may create trouble in giving development funds.
The most upset group are the MLAs who were hoping to be ministers in Sena-BJP Cabinet. Sanjay Shirsat said after the Ajit Pawar group joined the government, some people in their group “were upset because some of our leaders will not get their desired position”. “In politics when our rival gang wants to join us, we have to take them in and that is what BJP did. After NCP joined us, people in our group were upset because some of our leaders will not get their desired position. It is not true that all our leaders are happy with NCP joining us,” he said.
In order to contain the situation, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had to leave his visit to Nagpur midway and return to Mumbai on Tuesday night amid growing displeasure among the MLAs. He also held a meeting with his ministers till late night tried to convince them. It was because of the internal trouble that the portfolios could not be allocated to the new entrants including the second deputy chief minister even three days after they were inducted in the cabinet.
The three ruling parties are at loggerheads over the allocation of ministerial berths, reshuffle of departments and power-sharing. While Shiv Sena leaders have openly expressed their displeasure over the BJP’s bringing in a new ally, BJP leaders too are worried on several counts.
Sources said the discontent of CM Shinde, who barely spoke during the cabinet meeting, was clearly visible. “His body language and that of his ministers was subdued, while the Ajit Pawar camp appeared to be aggressive,” said an official. “Besides that, Pawar and Fadnavis were seen to be more friendly, which gave an impression that Shinde was isolated.”
The three leaders will meet again to discuss the allocation of portfolios. “The Ajit Pawar camp has been demanding finance, energy, food and civil supplies, rural development, water resources, and women and child welfare,” said a senior BJP leader. “The Shinde faction is strongly opposed to Ajit getting finance, as his disproportionate distribution of the outlay as finance minister in the MVA government was a major reason for their rebellion last year. The CM also opposed the idea of a reshuffle of departments held by his party’s ministers, which the BJP had proposed.”
The Shinde camp is deeply upset. Legislators Sanjay Shirsat, Bharat Gogawale and minister Deepak Kesarkar questioned the BJP’s adding a new ally, that too without taking them into confidence. “We had a full majority so where was the need to do this?” demanded Shirsat. Gogawale, on his part, was agitated because his political rival, the NCP’s Aditi Tatkare, is now a minister and is likely to get the guardian ministership of Raigad, which he was eyeing.
Sources claimed that some MLAs who wanted ministerships had told Shinde openly that he had reneged on the commitments made to them. On Tuesday evening, party ministers met at the residence of education minister Deepak Kesarkar to redress the issue and discuss the impact of the NCP joining the government.
Some BJP leaders too were upset about people’s reactions to the split in the NCP. “Voters are not happy about our joining hands with a party against whom we levelled so many allegations,” said the BJP leader. “Some leaders too are dismayed, as loyal party workers have been left out of the power-sharing.” His fear was not misplaced as Sharad Pawar on Wednesday questioned the prime minister Narendra Modi why the BJP took as ministers those in the NCP who were accused of corruption.
Another BJP leader said the Pawar and Shinde camps were expected to get around 13 ministerial berths each, while the BJP would retain about 16 berths. “The Shinde camp may make a noise but it has lost its bargaining power after the induction of the Ajit Pawar faction,” he added. “It will have to follow orders from the central leadership of the BJP.”