In another move that may upset the Shiv Sena and its leader Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde further, the state government has kept him out of the newly formed State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), which was revived on February 6. The nine-member SDMA has mandate for the chief minister as chairman. In other members, the government chose to appoint Deputy CM Ajit Pawar instead of Shinde. Pawar will be part of the authority of which Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is the ex-officio chairman. The Maharashtra government on Thursday announced a restructured nine-member SDMA of which the chief secretary is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The other government members include Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Disaster Management Minister Girish Mahajan, Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Makarand Jadhav-Patil (NCP) and Public Health Minister Prakash Abitkar, the only representative from the Shiv Sena. The non-government members include Prof Ravi Sinha and Prof Dipankar Chaudhari from IIT-Mumbai. Even as the government chose Ajit Pawar over Shinde to be part of the authority, Shinde’s Shiv Sena is the bigger ally in the Mahayuti government with 57 MLAs as compared to 41 MLAs of the NCP. Also Shinde was the former CM and many feel he should have been chosen over Pawar. Shinde holds the Urban Development and Housing portfolios in the government. “All the rules and regulations as mandated by the Disaster Management Act, 2005 have been followed. The SDMA includes one of the deputy chief ministers who holds the Finance portfolio. The rules do not mandate to include members based on seniority,” said an official from the Relief and Rehabilitation department. As per the Act, members of the authority, not exceeding eight, will be nominated by the chairperson. Despite attempts, Shinde could not be reached for comment. However, a Sena minister on condition of anonymity said the decision must have been announced after taking Shinde into confidence. “We do not want to cast aspersions on the decision. Fadnavis must have spoken to him (Shinde) before taking the decision. There is good coordination among the leaders of the government,” he said. In the recent past, there have been several instances that have upset Shinde and his party, including the issue of appointment of guardian ministers in Nashik and Raigad. While Shiv Sena minister Bharat Gogawle asserted his right over guardian ministership of Raigad, the post was given to Aditi Tatkare of the NCP. Similarly, BJP’s Girish Mahajan was made the guardian minister of Nashik even as Shiv Sena minister Dada Bhuse was keen for the post. On the issue, Shinde had said, “If Shiv Sena ministers aspire for guardianship, there is nothing wrong.” The recent decision of the government to appoint IAS officer Sanjay Sethi as MSRTC chairman instead of appointing Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik of the Shiv Sena is also being seen as a move to cut the Shiv Sena to size. It is for the first time in three decades that the transport minister has not been appointed as MSRTC chairman. It is also important to note that post the election results, Shinde was initially upset for not being made the CM and then he was upset about the portfolios as the Shiv Sena was gunning for Home portfolio for their leader. Senior BJP leaders say that Shinde’s conduct in the recent past especially on the issue of guardian ministership had upset the top leadership in the ruling party. “Both the Centre and state’s top leadership were upset with Shinde’s conduct during the time when Fadnavis was in Davos. While it was expected that the alliance partners Shiv Sena and NCP would ensure peace at home, instead the Shiv Sena played up the guardian ministership dispute, in his absence for four days,” a senior BJP leader said. Shinde has not only justified his minister’s assertion for the guardian minister post but also skipped last week’s cabinet meeting. On Monday, Fadnavis held a war-room meeting, which was also skipped by Shinde.
