This is an archive article published on July 16, 2023
‘Shinde told to hand over his post or finance ministry to Ajit Pawar’; Dy CM refutes claim
Anil Deshmukh, who belongs to Sharad Pawar-led NCP, said,"Despite all attempts, the Shinde Sena failed to stop Ajit Pawar from getting the finance portfolio
Ajit Pawar at an event in Nashik on Saturday. (Express File Photo)
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‘Shinde told to hand over his post or finance ministry to Ajit Pawar’; Dy CM refutes claim
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A day after the NCP claimed that “all efforts were made” by the Shiv Sena camp led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to stop Ajit Pawar from getting the finance ministry, the Sena faction led by Uddhav Thackeray also claimed that the top BJP leadership made it plain to Shinde that either finance ministry or the chief ministerial post should be given to Pawar. However, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said everything is alright within the government and that people should not believe such rumours.
“If you do not want to give the finance ministry to Ajit Pawar, then hand over chief ministerial post to him…This was a proposal made to Eknath Shinde by the BJP leadership,” MP Sanjay Raut, who is also the chief spokerspon of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), told this paper.
Raut said the proposal rattled Shinde, who returned to Maharashtra empty handed. “The Shinde Sena made all attempts to stop Ajit Pawar from getting the finance portfolio. The Shinde Sena MLAs put pressure on the Chief Minister and asked him to convince Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis not to give the finance ministry to Ajit Pawar. It is true that attempts were made till last minute to stop Ajit Pawar from getting the portfolio he wanted. The Chief Minister had to return from a failed mission. I think before joining hands with the BJP and the Shinde Sena, Ajit Pawar must have put forth this condition and that is why he easily got
the post,” Raut said.
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Raut said he had authentic information that Shinde was told either to accept the proposal or move out of the government. “My sources are strong…The BJP top leadership was in no mood to listen to him. The Chief Minister was clearly told to get out of the government or quietly accept the proposal. He had no choice but to accept the proposal of giving the finance ministry to Ajit Pawar,” he said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who was in Nashik on Saturday, without taking names said people should not believe in such rumours. “All is well in the government and will carry everyone together…No one should believe in such rumours,” he said.
Sanjay Tatkare, spokesperson of Ajit Pawar-led NCP, refused to comment. He however said it is true that there was opposition to Ajit Pawar getting the finance portfolio. “Everything is okay now…we want to ensure the development of the state…Our leader also would not like to reply to any speculatory discussions. Let them speak what they want to,” Tatkare told this paper.
Anil Deshmukh, who belongs to Sharad Pawar-led NCP, said,”Despite all attempts, the Shinde Sena failed to stop Ajit Pawar from getting the finance portfolio. Ajit Pawar had his way. But this also sounds alarm bells for Chief Minister Eknath Shinde…His chief ministerial post is in danger.”
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Independent MLA Bachchu Kadu, who is supporting the state government and is miffed as he has been kept away from the ministry, said Ajit Pawar has been favoured in the government. “The NCP has been given importance in the ministry. I don’t know what others will get now out of whatever has remained. The ministerial expansion and portfolio allocation has happened as per Ajit Pawar’s liking. The NCP put pressure and has been successful in getting what it wanted,” said Kadu.
Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades.
Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives.
Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees.
During Covid, over 50 doctors were asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa.
Manoj More has also covered the "Latur drought" situation in 2015 when a "Latur water train" created quite a buzz in Maharashtra. He also covered the Malin tragedy where over 150 villagers had died.
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