According to a Times Now Report Shiv Sena admitted that several leaders of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance are in contention over allocation of ministerial berths in Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s Cabinet. It said some MLAs from the Congress, the NCP and the Shiv Sena could not be accommodated as the list of potential candidates was huge.
Shiv sena’s mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ also criticised the recent hooliganism wherein Congress Pune office was vandalized after its MLA Sangram Thopte was overlooked for a position in the Cabinet.
Thopte’s supporters also vandalised the city party office after he was denied a ministerial berth. The ‘Saamana’ editorial said the Congress used to call Shiv Sena’s protests “rada culture” or hooliganism but Thopte’s supporters did exactly the same. This does not suit “Congress culture”, .
Party said “The Cabinet expansion was, indeed, delayed but it finally happened. There were some sparks of disappointment from those who could not make the cut, but the list of ‘probables’ was huge,”
The infighting within the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance over allocation of plum portfolios was revealed after Sanjay Raut skipped the swearing-in ceremony of Maharashtra ministers on December 30 as his brother Nitin Raut couldn’t make it to Thackeray’s Cabinet.
NCP leader Ajit Pawar who recently took the oath as Maharashtra deputy chief minister said that none of the partners in the coalition were happy with the portfolio distribution.
“We discussed which responsibility should be given to which minister, we also discussed other issues… Order on portfolios might be released tomorrow. Nobody is unhappy with it,” news agency ANI quoted Pawar as telling media persons in Mumbai.
