New Delhi:
Ajit Pawar, the rebel NCP leader, who returned to the fold two day back will be part of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government, sources told News Nation on Thursday. People privy to the inside information, said that Pawar camp was insisting on the Deputy Chief Minister’s post, which has been acceded to. However, Pawar will not take oath along with Uddhav Thackeray at the Shivaji park ceremony in Mumbai later in the day. It is yet to be seen how the three parties will work on the formula and how other NCP leaders would react to the latest development. It is because there were already reports of Chhagan Bhujbal and Jayant Patil from the NCP to be part of the government.
So far, it is understood that Shiv Sena will get the top post, the NCP will get the Deputy CM’s post and the Congress will be settling for the Speaker’s designation. Earlier, there were reports that had suggested that apart from the Chief Minister portfolio, Shiv Sena will have 15 ministers in Maharashtra cabinet while Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will have Deputy Chief Minister and 13 other ministers, sources said on Wednesday.
The 'Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi', comprising the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress along with some small parties and Independents, had staked claim for government formation in the state after the BJP-led government collapsed on Tuesday. The coalition of the three parties chose Uddhav Thackeray as the leader of the alliance and nominated him for the chief minister's post.
Thackeray will be sworn-in as the 18th Maharashtra chief minister on November 28 at Shivaji Park in Mumbai. Alongwith Uddhav Thackeray as chief minister, one or two members from each of the three parties are also expected to take oath as ministers. The Shiv Sena has invited several state heads of Congress-ruled states for Uddhav Thackeray's swearing in ceremony.
Uddhav's son Aditya Thackeray personally invited Congress Sonia Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh for his father's swearing-in. Although the Gandhi family is unlikely to attend the function, at least two chief ministers from Congress-ruled states are will witness the ocassion. Uddhav Thackeray is also said to have dialed Prime Minister Narendra Modi to invite him for his oath-taking ceremony. PM Modi too is unlikely to attend.
