Maharashtra: Ajit Pawar gets his way. Almost

05 October,2023 07:32 AM IST |  Mumbai  |  Dharmendra Jore

Gets guardian ministership of Pune, but is eyeing elusive Raigad which is currently with Shinde group

Dy CM Ajit Pawar (right)also got Kolhapur and Beed, while Chief Minister Eknath Shinde held on to Satara and Nashik besides Raigad. File pic/Ashish Raje


Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, the newest partner of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has got his way, as his faction has been given the guardian ministership of Pune, Kolhapur and Beed among others. But his colleagues were not handed Satara, Nashik and Raigad, the three districts held by Eknath Shinde's party. In a way, Shinde has also prevailed over the allies by refusing to part with his chosen districts.

In the reshuffle, the BJP has given up most for the NCP. The allocation of districts has become a bone of contention in the tripartite government. The talks of unrest had escalated on Tuesday after Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis had landed in Delhi leaving behind their engagements in Mumbai. The CMO released the list after the duo met the BJP high command.


Talk of unrest escalated on Tuesday after Eknath Shinde (centre) and Devendra Fadnavis, seen here with Ajit Pawar, landed in Delhi leaving behind their engagements in Mumbai. File pic/Sameer Markande

Pawar has replaced the BJP's Chandrakant Patil, who has been given two districts, Solapur and Amravati, to compensate for the loss of the place he represents in the Assembly. These were among the 12 districts which have been given independent guardian ministers. Earlier, senior ministers and Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis (six in Vidarbha) headed multiple districts. The guardian ministers preside over the development funds and projects in their districts.

BJP's revenue minister Radhakrishna Patil (Akola in addition to the previous charge of Ahmednagar), Vijay Kumar Gavit (Bhandara) and Sudhir Mungantiwar (Wardha) were also in the list. Earlier, Mungantiwar headed Chandrapur and Gondia. He has been removed from Gondia to Wardha. NCP's Dharamrao Baba Atram has got Gondia. His party colleagues - Dhananjay Munde got Beed, his home district. NCP's Dilip Walse Patil will lead Buldhana, Sanjay Bansode has been put in charge of Parbhani and Anil Patil replaced Gavit in Nandurbar.

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Eknath Shinde devendra fadnavis ajit pawar Shiv Sena bharatiya janata party nationalist congress party mumbai mumbai news
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