Mumbai: The tripod government in Maharashtra seems to be staring at major disaster in days to come. If the sources in the government are to be believed, origins of the troubles might be at Matoshree, the defacto power center in the state. The decision of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to add few portfolios to his name is said to be the root cause of the unrest in Shiv Sena. Interestingly, Thackeray is said to have decided to strip his trusted lieutenant Eknath Shinde, of some major departments.
Sources said that Thackeray will soon ‘reorganise’ the portfolios for better governance. “It is going to be the biggest trouble for CM Thackeray. Given the unrest in the allies over the allocation of portfolios, his decision to have few for him won’t go down well with the allies as well as his party ministers. Where would he get the portfolios from? All the major ministries have already been taken by NCP. Shiv Sena hardly has any influential ministry,” sources said.
Speculations are rife that Thackeray has decided to strip Ekanth Shinde of one of his ministries. At present Shinde holds two portfolios – Urban Development and Public Works (Including Public Undertakings). Thackeray wants to take away Urban Development Department from Shinde, leaving him with only Public Works (Including Public Undertakings). Currently CM Thackeray holds Law and Judiciary, Information and Public Relations, Information Technology and other departments not allocated to any minister.
This is not the first time that Shinde is facing the heat. During the winter session of state Assembly in December last year, Shinde was incharge of Home, Urban Department, Forest, Environment, Water Supply, Water Conservation, Tourism, Public Undertakings and Parliamentary Affairs. But he was left with only Urabn Development and PWD. Now he is set to lose one more.
Sources in Shiv Sena said Shinde was unhappy with the decision and has gone incommunicado. “Some are saying he has gone to his native place. There are speculations that Shinde is not alone. There could be many with him. Party needs to tackle this issue very carefully,” sources said.
Earlier this month, at the time of cabinet Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik too had expressed unhappiness saying, “Party might not have found me worthy of making minister. I will try to prove my worth.” Moreover Narayan Rane to has claimed that around 35 Shiv Sena MLAs were unhappy and set to take a major decision in days to come. Given the turn of events, Uddhav Thackeray appears to be hitting turbulence very soon.
