Unrest in Eknath Shinde led Shiv Sena post NCP's inclusion

Unrest is brewing in the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde in the wake of the rebel Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction’s inclusion in the BJP-led NDA coalition in Maharashtra.

Shinde, who is the chief leader of the Shiv Sena - of which he has snatched control from then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray - is having a tough time explaining his group.

Of the 56 Shiv Sena MLAs, Shinde commands a strength of 40 while he also has the support of 10 independents and smaller parties.

Ajit Pawar is now the new deputy chief minister and has eight other ministers in the Cabinet while Shiv Sena including Shinde has a strength of 10 and BJP too has the same strength with deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis at the helm of affairs.

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“Since the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly comprises 288 members, the maximum ministers that the government can have is 43. When the Shiv Sena-BJP government was in place, there were 20 ministers and 23 vacancies and after NCP’s inclusion with nine ministers the total ministers now is 29 and the vacancies are 14. These 14 vacancies are to be divided in the three parties when the expansion takes place. It's going to be a difficult task for the troika of Shinde, Fadnavis and Pawar,” informed sources told DH on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Shinde and Fadnavis had left for Nagpur for engagements related to the visit of president Droupadi Murmu but the chief minister rushed back to Mumbai around midnight. In Mumbai, he met his party people and discussed the issue.

Asked about Cabinet reshuffle, Shiv Sena spokesperson and senior MLA Sanjay Shirsat said that it was the prerogative of the chief minister. However, senior Shiv Sena leaders admitted that there was some resentment because of the inclusion of NCP. "We were always against Sharad Pawar and even today we are against Sharad Pawar

In fact when the Shinde group raised a banner of revolt against Thackeray, the reason given was the NCP and the role of Ajit Pawar. “We were always against Sharad Pawar and even today we are against Sharad Pawar,” said Shirsat.

Meanwhile, the unrest compounded when Ajit Pawar once again declared his chief ministerial ambitions.

Prahar Janshakti Party founder and MLA Bachchu Kadu, who is leading the group of Independents and smaller parties supporting Shinde, too expressed the issue of NCP’s inclusion.

With the proverbial Sword of Damocles in form of possible disqualification hanging over the heads of Shinde and 15 other MLAs who rebelled last year, Pawar’s entry has caused considerable concern among them.