Sena's sole Muslim minister confirms he has not 'quit'

Hours after hectic speculation that the Shiv Sena's newly-inducted Minister of State Abdul Sattar Nabi had resigned, the minister himself dismissed the reports as "mere rumours" here on Saturday evening.

"Whatever issues were there, the party has discussed with me and there's no question of any dissatisfaction. Anything else I have to say, I will speak with my party president Uddhav Thackerayji. I have not resigned as minister... this is just a rumour," Sattar told mediapersons.

Earlier on Saturday morning, had first reported that Sattar has not quit, and this was also confirmed by the party Rajya Sabha MP Anil Desai.

"This is not correct. He has not resigned, nor submitted any such resignation letter to me or anybody else in the party," Desai told , dismissing it as "media imagination".

Even the MoS' son Samir Nabi denied the new to local mediapersons in Aurangabad and said his father a Sena MLA from Sillod here had not mentioned any such plans.

Later in the afternoon, Home Minister Eknath Shinde and other senior party leaders also scotched all speculation on Sattar's reported resignation, allegedly because he was upset at not being given a Cabinet post.

As per latest information, Sattar - the party's sole Muslim face in the ministry - is likely to meet Thackeray on Sunday at the latter's residence 'Matoshri'.

He is among the four Muslims in the cabinet, who were sworn-in when Thackeray expanded his cabinet last month on December 30.

Since the past one week, top leaders of Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance of Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress are engaged in finalising the cabinet portfolios.

( With inputs from IANS )