Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said that Eknath Shinde has not asked for any ministry as of yet. He emphatically said that the state Home Department should be with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
He told India Today in an exclusive interview: "Eknath Shinde has not asked for any ministry yet but he has sought a discussion on 3-4 ministries. We will discuss when it comes but Home should be with us." Fadnavis held the Home department as the Chief Minister as well as when he was the Deputy CM.
While explaining the BJP's insistence on the Home ministry, Fadnavis said that a lot of coordination needs to be done with the Centre and Union Home Ministry due to the situation regarding Naxals in the state.
He said that Shinde and Ajit Pawar could also take the ministry but since he is the BJP's leader in the state, it becomes much easier for him to coordinate with the Centre.
His comments came as media reports suggested that the discussions around cabinet expansion in Maharashtra became strenuous since the Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's NCP are eyeing the same number of ministries that they had in the previous government.
These reports further mentioned that riding high on its robust performance in assembly polls, the BJP is eyeing 24 out of the total 43 portfolios, with 10 portfolios for Shinde Sena and 9 for NCP.
Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the Maharashtra Chief Minister in a star-studded ceremony at Mumbai's Azad Maidan on Thursday. Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar took oath as his deputies in the same ceremony.
In the recently conducted assembly polls, the Mahayuti won a landslide majority in Maharashtra. The BJP bagged 132 seats, Shiv Sena 57 and NCP 41 seats, taking the ruling alliance's total tally to 230.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) faced a crushing defeat in the state. The Shiv Sena (UBT) emerged as the highest performer in the alliance with 20 seats in its kitty. The Congress and NCP(SP) were reduced to 16 and 10 seats, respectively.
(With inputs from Sahil Joshi, Anjana Om Kashyap)