After a year, NCP ministers, some first-timers, return to Mantralaya

Mumbai, July 4 A year after many of them had been ejected out of Mantralaya at Nariman Point, the rival Nationalist Congress Party’s Deputy Chief Minister and his cabinet colleagues returned to state government headquarters for a maiden cabinet meeting, here on Tuesday morning.

The Ajit Pawar-led faction of nine, including the sole woman Minister Aditi Tatkare, shall attend the cabinet meeting to be presided over by Shiv Sena Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Bharatiya Janata Party’s Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, this afternoon.

The new ministers first paid homage to a huge portrait of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and other icons near the main entrance.

So far, Ajit Pawar & co have not been allocated ministerial responsibilities, there is speculation that he may corner many plum portfolios, including finance, agriculture, revenue or some others, creating heart-burns among the other two ruling allies.

As per current indications, the new ministers are likely to be given their responsibilities “very soon, maybe in a couple of days”, according to an official.

The Shiv Sena MLAs are reportedly apprehensive over giving the crucial finance portfolio to Ajit Pawar as he may indulge in pressure tactics - by stalling or starving them of much-needed developmental funds for their constituencies, or prioritizing the NCP-BJP MLAs – a potentially scary prospect barely a year ahead of the Assembly elections.

Earlier, Ajit Pawar, and around 5 others had occupied cabins in Mantralaya during the two-and-half year tenure of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government headed by ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray.

After the Shiv Sena’s internal revolt, the MVA government was toppled and later on June 30, 2022, Shinde and Fadnavis were sworn-in as CM and Deputy CM, and a year later, Ajit Pawar’s NCP faction has joined as the third partner in the Shiv Sena-BJP administration.