Email
Print
ShareThe Congress (16) and the NCP (20) are together set to tailor 36-minister new cabinet on Saturday. At the helm will be chief minister Ashok Chavan, with his deputy, Chhagan Bhujbal. The Congress will induct some more ministers at a later stage to fulfil its quota.
Both parties are likely to spring some surprises by bringing in new faces from GenNext and women leaders in their ranks. The defeat of 12 ministers in the assembly elections has provided ample space for debutants in the cabinet.
There is going to be fight-to-the-finish for the home portfolio within the NCP. Jayant Patil will like to retain his chair. Challenging him will be state NCP president RR Patil, who was dismissed as home minister following the 26/11 terror attacks.
Three in the Congress are vying for the revenue portfolio. Industries minister Narayan Rane, who lost the ministry following his temporary suspension, wants to get it back. Senior minister Patangrao Kadam, who replaced Rane, is in no mood to let go of his chair. Also in fray is former chief minister Shivajirao Nilangekar. If the party decides to give him a cabinet berth, it has to give him a key portfolio, like revenue.
Rane detractors are of opinion that the party should not entertain his demands. "He should be happy with the industries ministry as his performance on home turf Konkan was far from satisfactory," said one of them. Rane has also demanded that one of his close aides, Kalidas Kolamkar, be accommodated as a minister of state.
Chief minister Chavan will continue to retain the ministry of urban development, along with a couple of more portfolios. The Congress' list of probables include Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Balasaheb Thorat, Harshvardhan Patil, Naseen Khan, Nitin Raut, Suresh Shetty, Varsha Gaikwad, Amit Deshmukh, son of union industries minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, and Ranjit Kamble, nephew of Prabha Rau, governor of Himachal Pradesh. Lobbying is on for the induction of Raosaheb (Rajendra) Shekhawat, son of president Pratibha Patil, as a minister of state.
The NCP has decided to retain its top ministers including the likes of Ajit Pawar, Jayant Patil, Dilip Walse Patil, Sunil Tatkare, Rajesh Tope and Ganesh Naik. RR Patil is likely to be back in the cabinet, and will have to relinquish the reins of the state organisation. Sachin Ahir, the Mumbai NCP boss, is likely to make his debut. Another young turk likely to make it to the cabinet is Thane's Jitendra Awhad.
