ANI
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Shirsat also on Saturday insisted that the party should get the crucial home portfolio in the new Maharashtra government and claimed that efforts were being made to sideline Eknath Shinde.
Amid ongoing deliberations over government formation in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena on Saturday made an official demand for the Home Ministry for the party in the new cabinet. Describing it as the demand of Eknath Shinde, he said that there is nothing wrong in this demand. Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis returned to Mumbai on Friday morning after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the formation of the Maharashtra government. After which the acting CM left for his village Satara.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Shirsat also on Saturday insisted that the party should get the crucial home portfolio in the new Maharashtra government and claimed that efforts were being made to sideline Eknath Shinde. Shirsat said that given Shinde’s positive image and the schemes launched by him, if he had got two and a half more years as CM, he would have contributed more. The MLA representing Aurangabad West assembly seat said that the home department should be with the party (Shiv Sena). The department is (usually) held by the Deputy Chief Minister. It would not be right that the Chief Minister heads the Home Department.
Shirsat’s comments indicate a rift between the Mahayuti allies, BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP, which had performed brilliantly in the recently held Maharashtra state elections by winning 230 of the 288 assembly seats. BJP won 132 seats, followed by its allies Shiv Sena (57) and NCP (41). According to party sources, Shinde, who had gone to his native village in Satara, is angry. In the discussion regarding government formation, the party has demanded the Home Department.
