Uddhav Thackeray says not upset with BJP over Cabinet

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday rubbished reports that he was upset with the BJP for not giving his party one more Cabinet rank minister. Mr Thackeray claimed that the BJP has given Shiv Sena what was decided at the time when the Sena joined the government. He said he neither demanded any Cabinet berth nor was he upset with Friday’s Cabinet expansion.

On the other hand, the Cabinet expansion has left BJP’s another ally — Shivsangram Party — fuming. Party leader and Maratha strongman Vinayak Mete was expecting a place in the Devendra Fadnavis Cabinet. While the BJP has accommodated all its allies, it has left Shivsangram Party out. As a result, Mr Mete stayed away from the swearing-in ceremony and said that the ruling party had “cheated” him.

The Cabinet expansion was long-awaited and all four partners of the grand alliance had been exerting pressure on the chief minister to increase their representation into the Cabinet. According to sources, the Shiv Sena wanted one more Cabinet rank portfolio for one of its legislators. The party already has five Cabinet ministers and five ministers of state. In Friday’s expansion, Mr Fadnavis added two more Sena legislators in his Cabinet as ministers of state.

Commenting on this, Mr Thackeray said that his party never asked for the Cabinet rank. He also indicated that some of the BJP leaders, who did not want the Shiv Sena to be in the government, were carrying out propaganda against the party. “There is no need to think of any controversial reason for my absence in the swearing-in ceremony. What needs to be remembered is that when the Sena joined the government, we had agreed to a particular formula. According to that, we have got the two MoS berths. That was the assurance given to us then by the BJP which has been fulfilled,” said Mr Thackeray.

“We did not ask for a Cabinet post this time. But I think, with this Cabinet expansion, the people who perhaps did not want us to be a part of the government are feeling bad that we ended up being a part of it after all,” the Shiv Sena chief added.

The expansion has raised the strength of the ministry to 41, of which 27 are from the BJP, 12 from Shiv Sena and two from minor partners Rashtriya Samaj Party and Swabhimani Paksh. Republican Party of India leader Ramdas Athawale has been inducted in the Union Cabinet. Shivsangram, however, has no representation in the government.

Mr Mete, a Maratha strongman, was elected to the Council last month from the BJP quota. He also holds minister-level rank as chairman of the Shivaji Memorial Committee. He claimed that his party workers were so upset with the decision that they did not allow him to attend Friday’s oath taking ceremony.

“While justice was done to other alliance partners, including Swabhimani Paksh and Rashtriya Samaj Paksh and RPI while allocating ministerial berths in the state and at Centre, Shivsangram was ignored in Friday’s Cabinet expansion. I do not know why we have been sidelined and why injustice was done to us and the Maratha community, as Shivsangram represents Marathas. The BJP has cheated us,” Mr Mete said.

Interestingly, Mr Athawale had also called on Mr Fadnavis on Friday and urged him to give berths to his party members in the state Cabinet. Mr Athawale, a prominent Dalit leader from the state, took oath as the Union minister of state for social justice two days ago. On his first visit to the city after the swearing-in, he paid a visit to Chaityabhoomi, the memorial of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. Afterwards, he called on Mr Fadnavis and thanked him for recommending his name for inclusion in the Union Cabinet and thereby fulfilling BJP’s pre-election promise, said an aide of Mr Athawale.

“He (Athawale) also requested the chief minister to ensure that RPI (A) leaders get berths in his ministry as per the formula agreed upon prior to the 2014 Assembly elections,” he added.