In what may signal issues within the Maha Vikas Aghadi dispensation, Deputy Chief Minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar said “no one should play spoilsport” in a coalition government.
Pawar’s statement comes after Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut in his weekly column RokhThok that appears in Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana every Sunday, in which he had described NCP leader Anil Deshmukh as “accidental home minister”.
The development comes in the backdrop of the secret meeting between NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and his closest aide Praful Patel with Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
In the evening, Raut, the chief spokesperson of Shiv Sena and the party’s trouble-shooter called on Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Raut, in his column, said, “Anil Deshmukh got the Home Minister’s post after other senior NCP leaders such as Dilip Walse Patil and Jayant Patil refused to take up the role…That is why Sharad Pawar selected Anil Deshmukh for the post.”
The junior Pawar, however, was blunt and said, “The allotment of cabinet berths is the prerogative of the chiefs of every political party (in the MVA). No one should play spoilsport when the three-party government is functioning properly.”
It may be mentioned that state Congress President Nana Patole too has targeted Raut’s repeated suggestion that Pawar should take up the role of UPA Chairperson.
"Sanjay Raut has become the spokesperson of Sharad Pawar. Shiv Sena is not part of the UPA, and hence they have no right to make such statements…he should not speak on issues that do not concern him,” he said.
Published 28 March 2021, 15:48 IST