‘Bickering over cabinet could see rebels return’

Mumbai: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday hinted that with cabinet expansion scheduled on Tuesday, the bickering between the rebel MLAs could drive some of the disgruntled MLAs back into the Sena fold. Addressing a group of Sena activists from Nashik district at his Matoshree residence, Thackeray said, “I have just heard that cabinet expansion is finally scheduled tomorrow. Let it happen and you will see what will be the outcome.” The soft-spoken Sena leader was clearly hinting that the unhappy MLAs who supported Shinde could return to his fold if they do not get a cabinet berth.

The BJP high command has instructed Shinde-Fadnavis to keep the cabinet small, even as the suspense over the legal battle between the Uddhav and Shinde factions continues. T h e Supreme C o u r t h e a r i n g scheduled for Monday was adjourned to August 12 even as the pressure on the 38-day government to expand the cabinet continued to grow. Aware that accommodating the aspirations of 106 BJP MLAs and 50 MLAs from the Shinde group was not going to be an easy exercise, Thackeray and his son Aaditya have been reiterating that Matoshree’s doors are open to rebel MLAs who realize their mistake and return.

Persons familiar with the issue told First India that the delay in the cabinet expansion was due to the bickering within the Eknath Shinde group. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday had hinted as much by making it clear that Supreme Court had not explicitly restrained their government from cabinet expansion. “There is no link between the Supreme Court hearings and the cabinet expansion. The cabinet expansion will take place soon, and it will take place even before than what the media expects,” he said, hinting that the expansion would take place before August 15 when the government would like cabinet members to attend flag hoisting across the state, and participate in the `Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign of the BJP.