NCP leaders Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and senior BJP leaders late on Wednesday night amid a tussle over the allocation of portfolios to the latest entrant in the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP coalition in Maharashtra.
The stand-off over portfolios has persisted since the surprise swearing-in of Ajit Pawar and eight other NCP legislators as ministers in the Maharashtra government on July 2 after a split in the Sharad Pawar-led outfit.
Pawar’s nephew Ajit and senior leaders Praful Patel, Chhagan Bhujbal, and Sunil Tatkare walked out with a major chunk of MLAs and MLCs of the NCP, staking claim to the name and election symbol of the party.
Patel insisted that the meeting with Shah and other BJP leaders was a “courtesy call” as he and Ajit Pawar
had not met them formally since joining the ruling alliance in Maharashtra.
NCP has been insisting on the crucial finance and water resources portfolios, which the Shiv Sena is learnt to have opposed strongly.
Patel said there would be some issues in the allocation of portfolios as the same had been distributed by the BJP and Shiv Sena when they formed the government last year.
“Now each of them will have to give up some portfolios to accommodate us,” he told reporters on Wednesday night.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar-led NCP on Thursday targeted
Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit
Pawar for travelling to Delhi to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Ambadas Danve, Leader of Opposition in the state Legislative Council, said Pawar himself used to criticize BJP leaders that they had to go to Delhi for taking decisions.
“Now the same Ajit Pawar, who had an aura of his own, has to bow before the Delhi Durbar (rulers in Delhi),” said the Sena (UBT) leader.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said, “Since when Maharashtra’s leadership started going to Delhi? When the Congress was in power and the Delhi high command gave orders, you criticised it.
What has changed? For decision on anything from cabinet expansion to portfolio allocation, the once self-respecting leaders have to go to Delhi.” Sharad Pawar-led NCP’s Mahesh Tapase said it was surprising that a leader of Ajit Pawar’s stature had to travel to Delhi to meet the
BJP top brass amidst the deadlock over portfolio allocation in the state.