After Bihar debacle, BJP concedes ground in Maha

Mumbai: Smarting from the loss of the political battle in Bihar, where JD(U) CM Nitish Kumar outwitted the party and formed a new government with the RJD and Congress parties, the national leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party is keen on establishing a permanent government in Maharashtra. With this in mind, Home Minister Amit Shah has instructed Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis to concede to the demands from the rebel Sena camp MLAs. The move comes even as wrangling for cabinet portfolios between the party and CM Eknath Shinde-led MLAs failed to reach a consensus on cabinet portfolio allocations for the 18 newly inducted council of ministers find a consensus in Maharashtra for the second day.

With the fresh directives from Delhi Fadnavis is likely to achieve the elusive consensus among all the 20 council of ministers. The Shinde faction was also able to successfully negotiate for the inclusion of MLAs Sanjay Rathod and Abdul Sattar—apparently tainted in the Pooja Chavan suicide case and TET scam case, respectively, in the cabinet, despite BJP reservations. “CM Shinde fought for their inclusion in the state council of ministers and the BJP had to concede. The Fadnavis faction, with 115 MLAs in its grouping, also had to concede to a 50:50 cabinet expansion plan also. Now discussions will be held to bargain in lieu of these three portfolios that the Shinde camp has demanded,” a person familiar with the development told First India.

The BJP had earlier successfully elected the new Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly from its faction installing Rahul Narvekar, a fairly recent entrant to the party. Subsequently, the Shinde faction has been flexing its political muscles to gain a more than equal share of political power in Maharashtra. Meanwhile, a couple of new ministers from the Shinde camp, Dada Bhuse and Shambhuraj Desai have expressed dissatisfaction over the portfolios allocated to them with Desai averse to being the new Excise Minister due to the adverse imagery (alcohol) it bears in the rural hinterland.