Back to square 1 for Eknath Shinde faction if Ajit Pawar gets finance

With the Ajit Pawar faction of NCP joining the ruling alliance in Maharashtra, the number of claimants for plum ministerial portfolios have increased and so has the heartburn among legislators belonging to the Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena.

BJP, which facilitated the split in the Sena and NCP, has been working overtime to ensure the functioning of a smooth coalition. Miffed with the induction of NCP ministers, legislators of the Shinde group spoke with their leader and chief minister Eknath Shinde, where they said key portfolios like finance, irrigation and public works should not be given to ministers from the Ajit faction of NCP.

They said that when Ajit Pawar had the finance portfolio in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, he used to allocate more funds for projects in NCP strongholds, increasing NCP's clout in the state to the detriment of the Shiv Sena. The ministers told Shinde that if NCP was given the portfolios again, it would push the Shinde faction to the third spot in government and coalition. They asked Shinde to resist attempts to hand over NCP plum portfolios. The Shinde camp's consternation over Ajit getting the finance portfolio was on expected lines. When it pulled out of the MVA, Shinde faction MLAs had alleged that they were marginalised by NCP and singled out Ajit's finance department for 'skewed allocation of funds' to NCP areas.


BJP leaders, however, said though the Sena faction's concerns were valid, the NCP faction would have to be given portfolios 'befitting its stature'. While speaking to reporters on Tuesday Ajit Pawar hinted that the Shinde camp had issues.

"What can we achieve by getting angry? There will be some anger when those who expected full loaf of bread get half and those who expected half a loaf get a quarter," Shinde faction MLA Bharat Gogawale said.