Picking MLAs for minister jobs to be a tightrope walk for Sena chief

Nashik: It will be a rather ‘tightrope walk' for the caretaker CM and Shiv Sena Chief, Eknath Shinde, to pick among the 57 party MLAs for ministerial berths. If Sena insiders are to be believed, there are at least 20-22 Sena MLAs who are keen to become ministers in the new govt that will soon take shape. These ministerial aspirants from Sena include those 9 who were part of the Mahayuti regime led by Shinde."My feedback is that Sena's quota of ministerial berths is likely to be between 12-15. Given this scenario, it is a tough task for Shinde to select his party MLAs for ministership. He will have to convince the aspirants whose names do not figure in the Sena list of ministers why they were not selected" said a senior Sena functionary.According to Sena sources, these ministerial aspirants from Sena have been winning the polls for at least two consecutive times, and hence they feel that they stand a chance to become ministers. Sena insiders said that most of the 9 ministers in the previous Mahayuti regime, like Dada Bhuse, Uday Samant, Gulabrao Patil, Deepak Kesarkar, and Sambhuraj Desai, are almost certain to be retained."The Sena MLA from Aurangabad West, Sanjay Shirsat, too is likely to make it this time. He could not become a minister in the previous govt despite being close to Shinde. There will be a few berths from the Sena quota where Shinde will nominate fresh faces," said Sena sources.The two Sena MLAs who have won twice, Suhas Kande (Nandgaon in Nashik) and Kishor Appa Patil (Pachora in Jalgaon), said that they are keen to become ministers in the new govt. Both were not ministers in the previous govt. "There is nothing wrong in trying to become a minister. But our party chief will take the final call on this issue," said Kande, who defeated NCP heavyweight Chhagan Bhujbal's son Pankaj in 2019 and his nephew Sameer in this poll.A ministerial aspirant from Sena said that many of the MLAs who are eyeing ministership are yet to speak to Shinde on the issue since the latter has been unwell of late. "Some of us, including myself, have spoken to Shinde's son and Kalyan MP, Shrikant Shinde, to request the latter to convey our message to the party chief. I don't think there will be rumblings among aspirants if they do not become ministers since they have huge respect for Shinde, who has the quality of convincing his party colleagues," said a Sena MLA from North Maharashtra. MSID:: 115935016 413 |