BJP, Sena men don’t want Ajit in finance dept, but is it such a big deal?

Even nine days after they were sworn in as ministers, the Nationalist Congress Party's nine rebel legislators, including their leader Ajit Pawar, have not been given portfolios, apparently because the three ruling partners haven't reached a consensus on who gets what, especially the NCP's most experienced lot. But with the monsoon session of the state legislature coming up, the allocation is expected to be done before the sittings begin next Monday.

Last year, the first expansion had taken place 39 days after the oath-taking ceremony of CM Eknath Shinde and DyCM Devendra Fadnavis, who together ran the government facing harsh criticism from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). Nine each from the Shiv Sena (Shinde) and BJP were inducted. Portfolios were distributed five days after the expansion. The then delay was attributed to the time the two parties had taken to arrive at an amicable arrangement of governance, and the volatile politics between the two Sena factions. Independents supporting both sides were not given a place in the cabinet.

The contention

As expected, the tussle is said to be about the finance department that is being currently held by Fadnavis. The Shinde Sena doesn't want the department to be given to Pawar, who it had accused of bias with regard to the allocation of funds when they were together in the MVA government between November 2019 and June 2022.

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and his fellow NCP rebels at a meeting on July 5. Pic/Ashish Raje

Pawar's alleged partisan treatment was a reason the Shinde Sena had cited while breaking away from Uddhav Thackeray. Insiders said it wasn't Shinde Sena alone that opposed finance for Pawar, but BJP colleagues too don't want it. "BJP's 100-plus legislators and other supporters have direct access to Fadnavis, who takes care of everything. We don't know how it will work with Ajit Dada. It seems we will have to go through Fadnavis every time," said a BJP legislator.

There are several other plum departments that are with the BJP, mostly held by Fadnavis, that NCP veterans have been eyeing. Most of BJP's current ministers have at least two departments and one of them can be shed for the newcomers from the NCP or BJP (if another expansion takes place soon).

Budget done, what next?

Sources said the BJP will not part with the home department, also held by Fadnavis, but may give away finance because the annual budget has already been presented, and the next budget, to be presented before the elections, will be an interim one. Yet, the Shinde faction is said to be reluctant to see Ajit holding charge he has held it for many years in the past. In a bid to appease them, Shinde has told his upset MLAs that he would continue to have the final say, because no decision, if taken afresh, could be approved without his nod.

Fitting alternative

If Pawar doesn't get finance, another major ‘revenue department' should suit his position, said some in the BJP. The DyCM family's traditional political rival Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil (BJP) holds it. Will former Congress leader Vikhe-Patil, another Opposition leader to have switched sides four years ago, be asked to part with his portfolio, or, has Fadnavis already given up finance? There was an interesting indication this week. The energy department document that was released recently hasn't named a finance minister though it has named others. Sources said giving Pawar the water resources department was out of the question, considering the allegations he had faced as in-charge of the said portfolio. Another department that the BJP is unlikely to give up is ‘cooperation', which is very crucial to NCP's ‘sugar' politics.

Veteran power

The NCP rebels have a lot of governing experience between them. Most of them have been in the council of ministers since 1999, barring the BJP-Sena rule. Some were ministers even before 1999. They have had the portfolios, even while being part of the two-way alliance with the Congress, and later in the tripartite MVA, which helped them to extend their outreach. This time around as well, they would want a plum share in power if they were to prove the worth of their rebellion they have based on the plank of development. NCP has been clear in its approach of being in power and using it ruthlessly and smartly. It did not have departments like urban development since 1999, but always had the all-powerful home one; held the key to the budget through finance and planning; and water resources, which landed it, particularly Pawar, in trouble. Sources said a ‘plum' allocation depended on Pawar's good equations with Fadnavis, who has had a meeting with the CM and new entrant, to find a way out.

Another expansion?

Apart from home, Fadnavis has kept with himself the most important departments since the first leg of distribution. He heads finance and planning, energy, water resources, housing, law and judiciary among a bouquet of nine. No new ministers from either side were inducted in the past year, and when the BJP and Sena hopefuls were high on aspirations, the NCP's nine MLAs were inducted into the government on July 2. The development has left the hopefuls crestfallen, because in the next expansion, if there is one, the competition will be harsher than ever with only 14 slots remaining in the fray for over a hundred aspirants from three parties.

While the BJP legislators have been avoiding talking on record, Sena MLAs expected the cabinet expansion before the monsoon session. Sanjay Shirsat said on Monday that he and his party colleagues had information to this effect, but they didn't know the day it would take place. In case of yet another expansion, the people in the know have not ruled out the possibility of some sitting ministers' exit and reshuffling of departments. Industries Minister and Shiv Sena leader Uday Samant said the portfolios would be allocated in a matter of hours. "The allotment will happen in some hours. It could be two hours, 20 hours, or 72 hours, we don't know," he said at a media conference in Mumbai on Monday evening.

14
No of slots left in cabinet