Maha Cabinet expansion: 3 NCP MLAs from Pune district get ministerial berths; Cong, Sena get none

Besides Pawar, Ambegaon MLA and seven-time legislator Dilip Walse-Patil took oath as a cabinet minister. Dattatray Bharne, a first-time MLA from Indapur constituency who had defeated BJP’s Harshavardhan Patil, was a surprise pick as a minister of state. The names of Sunil Shelkhe from Maval and Anna Bansode from Pimpri were also doing rounds.

As Pawar took oath — the first to be sworn-in Monday — jubilation broke out in Baramati with his supporters bursting crackers and distributing sweetmeats. On November 23, when Pawar had taken oath along with Fadnavis, local leaders had found themselves in a fix — while some openly criticised him for the “u-turn”, a section of his supporters chose to remain tight-lipped.

“There was a big celebration in Baramati town. Not just party workers and leaders, but several citizens joined in. We distributed sweets, burst crackers. There will be a big public felicitation when Ajitdada returns to Baramati,” NCP’s Baramati district chief Sambhaji Holkar said.

In the October 2019 elections, Pawar had won his seventh Assembly election from the family pocket borough, Baramati, by a margin of 1.65 lakh votes — the highest secured by any MLA in Maharashtra. Pawar defeated BJP’s Gopichand Padalkar. Ambegaon, too, witnessed large-scale celebrations after Walse-Patil took the oath.

The Congress, which has two MLAs from Pune district, was expecting that Bhor MLA Sangram Thopte, would be inducted into the ministry. Purandar MLA Sanjay Jagtap is the second legislator from the party in the district.

Thopte’s supporters expressed strong resentment in Bhor. A close associate of the three-time legislator claimed they were planning to form a separate group and distance themselves from the Congress in the Bhor civic body to register their protest. “Thopte has revived the party in Bhor and has won consecutive elections. There was nothing wrong in expecting a ministerial berth for a loyalist,” the associate said.
Pune Congress leader Ramesh Iyer also said they had hoped that the party would get at least one representation from Pune district.

Sena, which has no MLA from Pune, too, will have no representation from the district. However, party sources said since MLC Neelam Gorhe, who is from the region, is already the Deputy Speaker in the Legislative Council, they were not expecting any ministerial berth. “We were not expecting any ministerial berth,” former Sena MP Shivajirao Adhalrao-Patil said.

AAP debunks Ajit’s appointment

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Monday took a dig at the Uddhav Thackeray government for appointing NCP MLA Ajit Pawar as the deputy chief minister. “The AAP takes strong objection to the induction of Ajit Pawar as deputy CM. It speaks volumes of CM Uddhav Thackeray’s lack of intent to fight corruption as well to provide relief to stressed farmers,” Preeti Sharma Menon, party’s national executive member, said in a press communique.

“At a time, when Ajit Pawar is still the prime accused in the Rs 70,000 crore irrigation scam, which has crippled the already stressed agrarian sector, distraught farmers and is being probed by a court-monitored SIT, and the matter is still sub judice, and which was exposed by the AAP in Maharashtra, his induction as the deputy CM leaves little doubt as to the government’s intention to prosecute him for his alleged wholesale corruption,” the statement said.