By: Ashwin Aghor
Mumbai: It was for Sanjay Raut’s undying loyalty towards the Thackeray family that today the Shiv Sena finds itself heading the government. It was the dedication, diplomacy, guile and sheer hard work of Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut that catapulted party president Uddhav Thackeray into the hot-seat of the Chief Minister and his son Aditya Thackeray as the first time Cabinet minister.
Taking on an angry estranged former ally the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), snapping ties with it over sharing the Chief Ministers post, Raut navigated the Shiv Sena ship through turbulent waters almost single-handedly, anchoring it with the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and forming the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), an alliance which no one had imagined two months ago.
However, on Monday though, the Saamana editor was conspicuous by his absence at Vidhan Bhavan when the MVA cabinet was expanding its wings. His brother and two time MLA from Vikhroli constituency in Mumbai, Sunil Raut is reported to have threatened to resign as MLA for having denied a cabinet berth. He is likely to tender his resignation to the Governor tomorrow. Interestingly, the discontent is so deep that Sanjay and Sunil Raut gave the oath taking ceremony amiss today.
In the cabinet expansion today, in all 36 MLAs – 13 each from Shiv Sena and NCP and ten MLAs from Congress took oath. Those took oath as cabinet ministers today included Aditya Thackeray, the first Thackeray to contest any election. While Uddhav, Rashmi Thackeray and brother Tejas Thackeray could not conceal the joy on their faces, while son took oath as cabinet minister, their trusted lieutenant Sanjay Raut is reportedly sulking at being denied the fair reward for his thankless service to the Thackeray family and Shiv Sena, which could have been the inclusion of his younger brother Sunil Raut in the state cabinet.
Sources close to the Raut family said that Sunil Raut was stunned when he learnt that his name was missing from the list of MLAs who would take oath today. Igniting the first spark of rebellion, he has threatened to resign as MLA and is likely to tender his resignation to the Governor tomorrow. Both Sanjay and Sunil have gone incommunicado giving rise to the speculations that all is not well in Shiv Sena.
Sources in the Sena disclosed that it is not just the Raut brothers who are unhappy with the cabinet expansion, many Sena MLAs from Mumbai and Vidarbha have openly expressed their displeasure. Many Shiv Sena MLAs and MPs from Vidarbha skipped the oath taking ceremony to register their protest. Sources said that apart from Raut brothers, Sunil Prabhu, Ravindra Waikar, Pratap Sarnaik, Diwakar Raote, Deepak Kesarkar, Ramdas Kadam, Deepak Sawant, Tanaji Sawant and Sachin Ahir are reported to be unhappy for being ignored.
Speaking to media, later Sanjay Raut denied that he was unhappy. He however, evaded queries on as to why he skipped the swearing in ceremony. “My family has made huge contributions in formation of the government. We are always loyal to Thackeray family and Shiv Sena,” Raut said. Although, Sanjay Raut has written off the swirl of speculations around his family, as mere rumors, Uddhav Thackeray has an uphill task to keep his men calm. This will definitely add to the problems of the government.
