Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde did a second disappearing act on Monday and NCP chief Ajit Pawar dashed to Delhi for talks with home minister Amit Shah, the two allies battling to wangle key portfolios from a dominant BJP.
Shinde, who had run off to his village in Satara on Friday after being told to give up the chief minister’s post, had returned to Mumbai on Sunday saying he had suffered a throat infection but was now recovered. He had signalled his willingness to accept a BJP chief minister.
But as the home portfolio — the price he wants to extract — looked increasingly out of reach, he left for his private home in Thane on Monday, claiming a recurrence of his infection and fever. This further delayed the portfolio talks among the Mahayuti allies, pending since the partners’ meeting with Shah in Delhi on Thursday.
With the Mumbai meeting on hold, Ajit headed for Delhi again to meet Shah and other top BJP leaders to seek some clarity over the distribution of portfolios, sources said.
The BJP, which had last week announced unilaterally that the new government would be sworn in on December 5, on Monday announced central observers for the election of the legislature party leader, who will be the next chief minister.
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani are the observers for the election, likely on Tuesday. The BJP’s top leader in Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, is the frontrunner for the chief minister’s post.
Ajit wants the finance portfolio that he holds in the outgoing government as deputy chief minister, but the BJP is reluctant to part with the ministry.
Unlike Shinde, Pawar is going all out to woo the BJP, stressing that the party deserves the chief minister’s post, to try and secure the finance portfolio.
As for the home portfolio that Shinde wants, the BJP is firmly against giving away the “most important” department.
“We can’t part with the home department. We might give the finance portfolio to the NCP — but, again, if we do so, it would be very difficult for us to deny the home department to Shinde,” a BJP leader said.
He hoped that the two allies, whose options are limited, would come around once the BJP leadership offered them some other important portfolios.
The BJP has 132 seats in the 288-member House leaving Shinde’s and Ajit’s parties trailing far behind with 57 and 41 seats and, therefore, reduced bargaining power.
Buoyed by the stunning poll performance, the BJP now wants not only the chief minister’s post but also key ministries like home and finance. The BJP had rewarded Shinde with the chief minister’s post after he split the Shiv Sena in 2022 and toppled the Sena-NCP-Congress government, but wants him to play second fiddle now.
As Shinde sulked in Thane, his party colleagues repeated what he had said on Sunday — that the Sena would not stand in the way of government formation and would accept the BJP leadership’s decisions.
Sena insiders said their leader was in a dilemma whether to join the government and accept the “demotion” to deputy chief minister, or stay out of power and focus on strengthening the party.
“The newly elected MLAs and other key party leaders have told Shinde that the party should join the government as power is necessary to strengthen the party. He, however, is unwilling if the BJP denies us the home portfolio,” a Sena leader said.
