With several leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti alliance expressing discontent over not being given a berth in the newly formed Maharashtra government, leaders are likely to consider reshuffling the cabinet after half term.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar have said the performance of ministers will be assessed and non-performers will be sacked from the cabinet. Shinde had said ministers from Shiv Sena will be given two-and-a-half years and only those who perform will progress. "Performance audit of ministers will be done and all three of us have agreed to this," CM Fadnavis said on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Shinde has sought affidavits from his party’s ministers that they will quit after half term. As many as 11 members from the Shinde faction took oath as ministers during the swearing-in ceremony on Sunday. Shiv Sena Minister Shamburaj Desai said the affidavits were being taken so that Deputy CM could drop them officially if he wanted to, Hindustan Times reported. “The Shiv Sena MLAs have neither ideology nor loyalty to Eknath Shinde—all they want is power. We have to distribute the power equitably,” a close aide of Shinde told the publication.
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Narendra Bhondekar, a newly elected Sena legislator has quit from party post miffed over being denied a cabinet berth. Bhondekar won from Bhandara-Pavani Assembly seat and he was the Shinde faction’s coordinator for Vidarbha. Reportedly, several other Shinde Sena leaders are also discontent about being denied cabinet berths.
The BJP secured 19 ministerial berths by virtue of being the largest party among allies. The Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party were allotted 11 and 9 berths, respectively. Fadnavis has said discontent leaders in the BJP would be considered for party posts.
