Mumbai: While Uddhav Thackeray is all set to be sworn in as the Chief Minister on Thursday, the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) led by him seems to have taken a cautious approach while forming the new council of ministers.
Contrary to the earlier reports of the MVA having a full-fledged council, only six ministers — two each from the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress — apart from the chief minister are likely to take oath on Thursday.
The leaders of the MVA — which comprises the Sena, NCP and Congress — met on Wednesday to discuss the formation of the council of ministers. In the meeting, it was decided that the posts of deputy chief minister and deputy speaker would be given to the NCP, whereas the Congress will have the Speaker’s post in the Vidhan Sabha. The Sena will hold the CM’s post for five years.
NCP leader Praful Patel said, “We have sent two names from our party for the swearing-in ceremony. One or two leaders each from three parties will take oath on Thursday.”
The governor has given the MVA till December 3 to prove its majority. The expansion of the ministry will be carried out after that, he added.
Mr Thackeray will be sworn in as chief minister at 6.40 pm on Thursday at Shivaji Park, Dadar. He met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhavan. The Sena leader was also accompanied by his wife Rashmi.
Later in the evening, he attended the joint meeting of the MVA at the YB Chavan Centre in south Mumbai where he along with NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Congress veteran Ahmed Patel and other leaders held parleys over the council of ministers and the swearing-in ceremony.
According to sources, the Shiv Sena and NCP were likely to have 16 and 14 ministerial berths each in the (MVA) government, whereas the Congress was likely to get 13 ministerial berths plus the Speaker’s post. But the plans of a full-fledged council have been put on hold.
Maharashtra can have a maximum of 43 ministers. The size of council of ministers cannot exceed 15 per cent of the total number of MLAs, which is 288 in the state. The Shiv Sena has 56 MLAs, NCP 54 and Congress 44 legislators respectively.
Some of the Sena ministers who are likely to be inducted into the Cabinet are Eknath Shinde, Subhash Desai, Ravindra Waikar, Deepak Kesarkar, Uday Samant, Dada Bhuse, Gulabrao Patil, Sanjay Raimulkar and Sunil Prabhu.
The NCP is likely to name leaders such as Jayant Patil, Dilip Walse-Patil, Nawab Malik, Chhagan Bhujbal, Hasan Mushrif, Rajendra Shingane and Dhananjay Munde.
And Congress leaders Ashok Chavan, Vijay Wadettiwar, Varsha Gaikwad, Amin Patel, Vishwajeet Kadam, K.C. Padvi, Yashomati Thakur and Nitin Raut are likely to serve as ministers.
Smaller allies are also likely to be given ministries, but their share has not been finalised yet. The iconic venue, where the chief minister designate’s father Bal Thackeray addressed the Sena’s first public rally on the occasion of Dussehra on October 30, 1966, was being readied for the swearing-in ceremony on Thursday.
Meanwhile, after achieving the unexpected success of forming the government in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena may set its eyes on expanding its base across the country as an alternative to the BJP.
Senior Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said that it will not be surprising if the party forms the government at the Centre after having installed its chief minister in Maharashtra.
“I have been saying this from day one that we will form the government. I have said that our suryayaan (flight to the Sun) will land safely on the sixth floor of Mantralaya. But everyone laughed at us. Now our suryayaan has landed safely. People shouldn't be surprised if the Sena's suryayaan lands in Delhi,” Raut said.
Ajit may retain key role in NCP
Former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday attended a key meeting on government formation and also addressed fellow NCP MLAs at the YB Chavan Centre in Mumbai.
Asked about his revolt against his uncle and NCP chief Sharad Pawar four days ago, Ajit Pawar said that what he did could not be termed as a revolt.
“It was not a revolt. I was the leader of the NCP. Did the NCP remove me? Did you read (about my removal from the NCP) somewhere? I have been telling all that I was in the NCP, I am in the NCP, and will be in the NCP. There is no reason to create confusion,” he said. He reiterated that he would abide by whatever NCP chief Sharad Pawar says.
