Unhappy over portfolio, Shiv Sena MLA quits cabinet

Upset over not being given a prominent position in the cabinet, Shiv Sena MLA Abdul Sattar resigned as a minister from the Maha Vikas Agadi government in Maharashtra, reports said. However, the party has not yet accepted his resignation.

Sattar, who quit the Congress and joined the Sena ahead of the assembly elections, had taken oath on December 30 as minister of state in the coalition government led by Uddhav Thackeray.

Senior Sena leader Sanjay Raut said Thackeray will speak to Sattar over the issue.

"Whenever cabinet expansion is taken up, some leaders are left disappointed over not getting the position of their choice. But they should understand that this is a government of the Maha Vikas Agadi and not Shiv Sena," Raut said, reported NDTV.

Sattar's resignation comes even as several Congress leaders are reportedly unhappy over not being given positions in the state cabinet. The tri-party alliance formed government in the state after Sena snapped alliance with the BJP and joined hands with the Congress and the NCP.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and six of his council members, two each from the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, had taken oath on November 28. The first cabinet expansion took place on December 30. The full-fledged allocation of portfolios, however, is yet to be done.

News agency PTI quoted sources as saying that the Congress, which has been seeking two additional berths in the government, submitted its list of ministers with the departments allocated to them to the chief minister on Friday.

According to the earlier portfolio-sharing arrangement the three parties had decided that the Congress is to get 12 ministries in the 43-member council of ministers.