Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena leader Uday Samant on Wednesday dismissed the reports of discontent in the party over the entry of Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP into the Eknath Shinde-led government, saying there was no displeasure among the MLAs.
Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde chaired a meeting with Shiv Sena leaders at his official residence in Mumbai on Wednesday evening, triggering speculations of his resignation. Shinde was expected to discuss the entry of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction into the government.
Samant, however, dismissed all such speculations as rumours and said that the meeting was held regarding the upcoming Monsoon session of the Lok Sabha, the session of the Maharashtra legislative assembly.
“Under the leadership of CM Eknath Shinde, there was a meeting regarding the upcoming session of the Lok Sabha, the session of Maharashtra Vidhansabha, what MLAs, MPs, MLCs should do in future, how to do development work, how to grow the organisation,” Samant told reporters after the meeting at Eknath Shinde’s Varsha bungalow.
“There was no displeasure among our MLAs anywhere (regarding Ajit Pawar’s arrival), we all have faith in Eknath Shinde…information about his (Eknath Shinde’s) resignation are rumours…All MPs & MLAs elections will be held under the leadership of Eknath Shinde,” he added.
Echoing Samant’s assertion, Maharashtra minister Shambhuraj Desai said, “There is no question of the resignation of CM Eknath Shinde. We have the support of more than 200 MLAs. No leader is unhappy and all have faith in Eknath Shinde’s leadership.”
While Samant and Desai claimed that there was no discontent over the induction of NCP leaders into the cabinet, Shiv Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar earlier today said that the move has dented the prospects of ministerial aspirants from BJP and Shiv Sena leaving some of them upset and that the chief minister is aware of this feeling.
“The scope of ministerial aspirants from BJP and Shiv Sena minimised after NCP joined the government. This has upset some MLAs. The chief minister is aware of this,” Kirtikar, who shifted his loyalties to CM Shinde a few months ago, told PTI.
The three ruling parties have been at loggerheads over the allocation of ministerial berths, reshuffle of departments and power-sharing. On Tuesday, Shinde held a meeting with his two deputy CMs immediately after the cabinet meeting. The meeting, however, remained inconclusive because of differences over the distribution of portfolios, and the three were compelled to defer the decision.
