In another setback to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena group, 32 Shiv Sena corporators of Navi Mumbai met Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Thane on Thursday and extended their support to him.
“We will be with him. He never declined anybody’s phone call. Even if an ordinary party worker calls him up, he receives the call. It feels good,” the group said, news agency ANI reported.
Maharashtra | 32 Shiv Sena corporators of Navi Mumbai met CM Eknath Shinde in Thane y'day & extended their support to him. They say, "We'll be with him. He never declined anybody's phone call. Even if an ordinary party worker calls him up, he receives the call. It feels good." pic.twitter.com/AuybwOJzEy
— ANI (@ANI) July 8, 2022
The development comes after 66 out of the 67 former party corporators of the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) have extended support to the faction led by Shinde. The term of the 131-member TMC, which has been a stronghold of the Shiv Sena, ended sometime back and its elections are due. The 66 former Sena corporators, led by ex-mayor Naresh Mhaske, met CM Shinde at his ‘Nandanvan’ bungalow in Mumbai on Wednesday night and extended support to him, a release from Shinde’s office said.
Last month, Shinde had launched a rebellion against the Sena and majority of the party MLAs sided with him, which led to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in the state led by Uddhav Thackeray. Shinde was sworn in as the chief minister on June 30 and BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis had taken oath as the deputy CM. Both the Uddhav and Shinde groups claim to be the original Shiv Sena, but the Election Commission will make the final decision in this regard.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that Shinde’s cabinet will be expanded in two stages.
While one expansion will take place prior to the Presidential elections, another will take place after the elections, a report by the Times of India said.
In any case, the Cabinet expansion is set to be a formidable exercise with the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP as the senior partner in the alliance, given the number of aspirants in both the breakaway Sena and the much-larger saffron camp, many of whom are experienced as well as eligible for the ministerial posts, say reports. The Maharashtra Council of Ministers has a maximum of 43 members, including the Chief Minister.
A report in the Indian Express quoted highly-placed sources as saying that the central party leadership will play a crucial role in ensuring power share between the BJP and the Shinde camp smoothly and in ironing out any creases in the process.
The report further said that the Cabinet will be formed with the goals of the 2024 Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections in mind, and “merit” will be a major criterion for shortlisting candidates for ministerial positions. At the same time, regional and caste considerations will be important in forming Shinde-Fadnavis’ ministerial team.
It remains to be seen how the Shiv Sena battle, and the cabinet layout will take place amid political churnings in Maharashtra.
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