Shiv Sena talks of honourable deal, as Ramdas Athawale gets into Modi's team

Other than the RPI chief, the BJP will have its Dhule MP in the Union cabinet, which will be expanded today

Even as the Shiv Sena demands honour and respect in the NDA — but isn’t sure of getting more representation at the Centre when Narendra Modi expands his cabinet on Tuesday — the BJP has decided to appease its smaller ally, the Republic Party of India-A by inducting its chief, Ramdas Athawale, as a minister in Delhi.

Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said yesterday that the party would not compromise on self-respect even as RPI chief Ramdas Athawale (right) gets ready to be inducted into the Modi cabinet. File pic

Modi’s new team will have one more minister from Maharashtra in its first-time Dhule MP, Dr Subhas Bhamre, whose inclusion will balance intra-BJP politics in north Maharashtra. The region has seen unrest since state minister Eknath Khadse, fending off corruption charges, resigned in June.

Both Bhamre and Athawale will be made ministers of state, said sources in the BJP.

Athawale had spent the last two years sulking because his pleas for a share in power were ignored by the BJP bosses.

Sources said if the Sena gets a call at the eleventh hour, its Rajya Sabha MP, Anil Desai, will take oath as minister.

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