Mumbai/New Delhi, Nov 9: Even as finishing touches were being applied to a fairly large-scale expansion of the Narendra Modi ministry on Sunday, there was still uncertainty over whether the Shiv Sena would be part of it. It has asked for a simultaneous resolution of the stalemate in Maharashtra, but the BJP appears to be no mood to accede to Sena president Uddhav Thackeray's continuing demand that his party should get the posts of deputy chief minister and Speaker.
Anand Geete of the Sena, who was inducted as heavy industries minister when Modi formed his Cabinet in May this year, has been summoned back to Mumbai, reinforcing the impression that there might be trouble ahead. Geete was scheduled to meet the PM on Saturday but confirmed that the meeting did not take place.
Uddhav said that he would spell out his stand on whether to join the BJP government in Maharashtra and whether to nominate one Sena minister for the Union Cabinet after a party MLAs' meeting on Sunday. The Sena meeting, however, is in the evening, while the Union Cabinet expansion is scheduled to take place in the afternoon.
Sources said Uddhav had earlier recommended party Rajya Sabha MP Anil Desai's name for inclusion in the Union Cabinet.
The Sena's insistence on resolving the Maharashtra imbroglio was discussed at the meeting of BJP's parliamentary board, with the party's top decision-making body deciding to go ahead with its plan to appoint Sena's Suresh Prabhu irrespective of what Thackeray might decide.
Prabhu, though still a Sainik in the technical sense of the term, is expected to be assigned a key ministry like the railways.
Comments
Add new comment