Ministers won’t quit, Shinde yet to finalise hit-list

With the deadline for downsizing the Cabinet drawing close, Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde faces the unpleasant task of finalising the li...

With the deadline for downsizing the Cabinet drawing close, Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde faces the unpleasant task of finalising the list of ministers he wants to sack. And to make his job more difficult, none of the Cabinet ministers have submitted their resignations so far.

A worried Shinde has now taken up the issue with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. On his part, the CM has once again asked all the ministers to submit their resignations by June 30. Once he receives their letters, he will seek guidance from the high command. ‘‘Since I don’t have a fixed formula, I will consult my seniors before taking a final decision,’’ Shinde said.

Though Shinde declined to comment on the options available before him, a senior Congress minister said four strategies were discussed at length at the high-level meeting a week ago:

• Sack all Ministers of State.

• Sack those ministers, in whose area the party fared poorly in LS polls.

• Sack independent ministers.

• Dissolve the Assembly.

Independent members, led by senior minister Harshvardhan Patil, have already made it clear that they will not resign, since the minority Congress-led Democratic Government is surviving on their support.

Secondly, if the option of sacking Cabinet ministers on the basis of their poll performance is implemented, Shinde will have to dismiss stalwarts like Revenue Minister Shivajirao Patil-Nilangekar, Public Health Minister Digvijay Khanvilkar and Excise Minister Anil Deshmukh.

A senior NCP minister said the CM will have to draft a new formula to finalise the hit-list. ‘‘I think, he will have to combine the options so that he can keep all the factions happy,’’ he added.

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In keeping with the amendment fixing Cabinet size, Shinde will have to sack 22 of his 65 Cabinet ministers before July 7.

Meanwhile, Home Minister and state NCP president R.R. Patil said all NCP Cabinet ministers will resign on Wednesday and the decision on the ministers to be dropped will be taken after consulting president Sharad Pawar and Deputy CM Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil.