Health min leads high-profile govt exits; Mumbai, Thane gain in new Cabinet

AMID the highprofile exits of top ministers like Harsh Vardhan Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar in Wednesdayrsquos cabinet reshuffle Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave Maharashtra more berths including Narayan Rane who had merged his political outfit with the BJP two years ago The big casualties come at a time when the government faces severe criticism over its handling of Covid and poorly judged tech lawsA Rajya Sabha member Rane was given the MSME portfolio which was Nitin Gadkari earlier Along with exCM Rane a Cabinet minister Kapil Patil Bhiwandi Lok Sabha Dr Bharati Pawar Dindori Lok Sabha and Dr Bhagwat Karad Rajya Sabha were included as junior ministers Patil got Panchayat Raj while Pawar has been made MoS Health Karad is now MoS FinanceThe statersquos mix reflected on the sociopolitical model PM Modi has used for the reshuffle Maharashtrarsquos new faces come from different communities and regions where the party can use them to its benefit However the induction of lsquoimportedrsquo players started the lsquoloyalist versus turncoatrsquo debate within the party Some in the party said the seniors feared that the outsiders in some critical constituencies might switch sides if not given berths anytime soonEarlier Maharashtra had six ministers three Cabinet and three MoS Now it will have eight ministers ndash three Cabinet and five MoSNarayan Rane has been given the MSME portfolio It was with Gadkari Kapil Patil from Bhiwandi is now MoS Panchayat Raj Dr Bharati Pawar Dindori has become MoS Health Javadekarrsquos resignation was among the highprofile exitsA former Shiv Sena leader Rane was with the Congress for over a decade Patil and Pawar switched over to the BJP from the Nationalist Congress Party ahead of the general polls in 2014 and 2019 respectively Dr Karad a paediatric surgeon from Aurangabad has been with the BJP throughout his political career that started from the local civic body Before Javadekar a minister of seven years was asked to quit on Wednesday afternoon minister of state Sanjay Dhotre Akola Lok Sabha who had found a place in Modirsquos second team resigned on health grounds Other ministers from Maharashtra Nitin Gadkari Piyush Goyal Raosaheb Danve and BJPrsquos ally Ramdas Athawale have been retainedThe significancePowering Rane with a Cabinet berth means fulfilling a promise that allies like him and Nitish Kumar were given The exCM will be useful in Mumbairsquos civic polls in which the BJP will again be pitted against the Shiv Sena for supremacy Rane has never lost an opportunity to attack Uddhav Thackeray The leader is also expected to regain control in the Konkan fighting against the Sena His elder son had lost a Lok Sabha seat there while the younger one won the Assembly twice Rane himself lost an Assembly seat in 2014 in his fiefdom and later challenged the Sena in Bandra E bypoll but lost After he parted ways with Congress the BJP supported him in the Rajya Sabha polls in 2018Rane belongs to the Maratha community which is fighting in the streets and courts for getting the reservation restored As a Congress minister Rane was instrumental in making the first law that gave Marathas a quota in 2014 but got scrapped in the court Now Rane can fuel antiMVA sentiments and represent the community from the BJPrsquos sideBhiwandirsquos Kapil Patil comes from Thane district which didnrsquot have representation in the union government He is an Agri the aboriginal community in the MMR which has locked horns with the Sena over the naming of the Navi Mumbai International Airport The Agris want the airport named after their illustrious leader former MP late DB Patil With Mumbai and Thane many other civic bodies in the MMR will go to polls next year The anger of Agris can be exploitedDr Bharati Pawar is a tribal leader from the Adivasidominated belt of north Maharashtra Another Adivasi woman doctor Hina Gavit Nandurbar was in contention for the berth Pawar had quit the NCP just ahead of the polls Gavit joined the BJP with her exNCP minister father in 2014 One more woman doctor Pritam Munde Beed was being tipped as a junior minister but Dr Karad also an OBC Vanjari leader was given preference Marathwada being so expansive it had only Raosaheb Danve a Maratha as its representative Coming from another influential community Dr Karad will share the responsibility Danve has been made MoS Railways8No of ministers from Maharashtra in the new cabinet