13 July,2023 07:24 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
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The ruling Shiv Sena stated that the Maharashtra cabinet's expansion and allocation of portfolios are most likely to happen on July 14.
According to the rival Sena faction, it is doubtful that the MLAs belonging to the Eknath Shinde-led faction would be accommodated in the new ministry.
Earlier on July 2, senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar and eight other legislators of his party took oath as ministers in the Maharashtra government. The surprise move led to a split in the Sharad Pawar-led outfit.
The induction of the MLAs of the NCP, the latest entrant in the ruling Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition, has triggered a tussle over the allocation of portfolios.
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Sanjay Shirsat from the Shinde-led faction said the expansion of the cabinet and the allocation of portfolios are "99 per cent" likely to happen on Friday.
Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, Ambadas Danve, who belongs to the Sena (UBT), said it will be difficult for the BJP to satisfy the people they have pulled together.
"There is an imbalance of the number of MLAs who want to become a minister and actual posts available. There is a lot of discontent among the BJP workers," Danve said.
"There is still no allocation of portfolios (to the NCP MLAs who took oath as ministers), so when will another round of cabinet expansion take place? It appears that the new suit they have switched is likely to remain unused," Danve said.
MP Sanjay Raut said, "It was doubtful that cabinet expansion would happen because it would lead to an explosion of anger in the two ruling groups - the Shiv Sena and the NCP".
"All the ministers from the Ajit Pawar faction are heavyweights who have served as deputy chief minister, home minister¿so they will need to be given portfolios of that stature. On the other hand, the Shinde faction will have to suffice over peanuts," the Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member said.
(with inputs from PTI)
