NCP men’s clamour for Cabinet rank

“Barring Shingane, all of us were Ministers of State in the erstwhile Sena-BJP government. Under such circumstances, we feel that we should be given a Cabinet rank along with executive powers,” one of them told this paper.While Shivajirao Naik was a Minister of State for Public Works, Sopal was Minister of state for Law and Judiciary and Gavit was a Minister of State for Public Health and Medical Education.

“We have read the official announcement in the media, but so far we have not received any official communication from the concerned department. If we are not given a Cabinet rank, we will certainly have to think about taking up the assignment,” he added.

According to a senior official, granting of Cabinet rank will not make any difference for the government, but it will not be possible to grant them executive powers. “Granting rank will create administrative problems for the Cabinet minister of the particular department, but it can still be done. But it will not be possible to grant them executive powers, which are given only to the administrative head of the corporation,” the official said.

Since the installation of the Congress-led Democratic Front government, Cabinet rank has been granted only to former Chief Minister Sudhakarrao Naik, who heads the Water Conservation Council, while Madhu Chavan, President of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority has been given the rank of Minister of State.

Along with the demand for a Cabinet rank, the Chief Minister will also have to tackle the discontent among the partners of the front, since adequate representation has not been given to them while constituting the boards and corporations. “We will have to accommodate all the nominees of the constituents of the Democratic Front,” another senior NCP leader said.