No Displeasure Among Sena MLAs, Says Shinde Faction After Ajit Pawar’s Entry in Maha Cabinet

Ajit Pawar's entry into Maharashtra's ruling coalition has put Shiv Sena MLAs who back Eknath Shinde in a tough spot. The discomfort is so intense that the Chief Minister has decided to cancel all his scheduled engagements for today and has called for an urgent party gathering at his official residence.

According to reports, the MLAs are objecting to the alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), pointing out that Sena founder Bal Thackeray would never have associated with the Nationalist Congress Party.

The Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena has been rubbing it in, tweeting a video of Shinde and his loyalists' earlier statements about the NCP.

This is an uncomfortable position for Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who split the Shiv Sena alleging that Uddhav Thackeray had deviated from his father's ideology. Alliance with the NCP was one of Shinde's biggest grievances against the former Chief Minister.

"The scope of ministerial aspirants from BJP and Shiv Sena minimised after NCP joined the government. This has upset some MLAs. The chief minister is aware of this," Shiv Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar, who shifted his loyalties to CM Shinde a few months ago, told PTI.

The Chief Minister finds himself in an even more challenging situation due to his enthusiastic reception of the NCP rebel following his joining.

"Now the double engine government has a triple engine. The state will sprint (on the path of development). Now we have one Chief Minister and two deputy chief ministers. This will help faster development of the state," Eknath Shinde said on Sunday after Ajit Pawar was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister.

Shinde's party had made it clear over two months ago that they were not interested in having the NCP in the ruling alliance.

"Our policy is clear about it. The NCP is a party which betrays. We will not be with the NCP even in power," Shinde Sena faction spokesperson Sanjay Shirsat had said.

"If the BJP decides to ally with the NCP, it will not sit well with Maharashtra. We made the decision to break away from the earlier united Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray because the people did not approve of us joining forces with the Congress and NCP," he expressed.

"Ajit Pawar does not have free rein within the NCP. Hence, if he leaves the NCP, we will welcome him. However, if he comes with a group of NCP leaders, we will not be a part of the government," he added.

Senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar took oath as deputy chief minister on Sunday along with eight MLAs who were sworn in as ministers, a development that left the Sharad Pawar-led party shaken.

With the induction of nine ministers from the Ajit Pawar camp, the strength of the Shinde-Fadnavis cabinet has gone up to 29, leaving 14 posts vacant.

It was the second expansion of the state council of ministers after Eknath Shinde took charge of the government along with Devendra Fadnavis last June.