New Delhi, May 28 – Anant Geete took charge of the Heavy Industries Ministry on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first day at work had been marred by a sour note when Shiv Sena MP Anant Geete refused to take charge of his ministry. Geete’s refusal had come even as all other ministers took charge of their respective portfolios on Tuesday.
The portfolio distribution had left a sour taste in Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray’s mouth. Shiv Sena’s sole member in the Cabinet, Anant Geete, got a relatively light-weight ministry, that of ‘heavy industries’. While other ministers have reported to work, Geete decided not to assume office till his party’s gripe was resolved.
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray extended his stay in the capital to talk to the BJP after this announcement, with the expectation that Modi would at least allocate them a better portfolio.
Shiv Sena, after its healthy performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, was expecting a minimum of five berths, three in the Cabinet and two ministries of state, one of which could be allotted to its ally Shetkari Sanghatan.
But since talks regarding distribution never happened, Shiv Sena leaders ended up informing about their expectations to BJP leader Rajnath Singh. But the party came to know a day before the oath-taking ceremony that they will get only one Cabinet berth. The Shiv Sena chief expressed his displeasure to Rajnath Singh.
Singh, who himself seemed clueless about portfolio distribution, could merely promise, “Trust us.” But the proceedings didn’t go well for Shiv Sena and the oath-taking ceremony arrived. Shiv Sena had two Cabinet ministers with power and heavy industries portfolios, and one MoS with finance portfolio in Vajapayee’s Cabinet, so the party expected two good portfolios in the Modi team.
BJP has good representation from Maharashtra in the Modi Cabinet. It got five ministries – two Cabinet and three MoS, out of which two MoS have got independent charge. Shiv Sena leaders are already unhappy with the BJP’s demand for more seats in the state Assembly, and now they are not getting heard on their displeasure.
The BJP has got 23 Lok Sabha seats and the Shiv Sena 18. Uddhav Thackeray’s party thinks that the BJP is arm-twisting its most loyal partner since the latter is in a commanding position.
In the next six months, Shiv Sena does not want to battle in the Assembly elections with their weak position in alliance. They think it may affect their chances of having a chief minister from their party if a Shiv Sena-BJP alliance managed to defeat the ruling Congress-NCP alliance .
In the Vajpayee cabinet, the Shiv Sena had three ministries under its care – the cabinet ministries of Power and Heavy Industries and the Minister of State portfolio of Finance. The Shiv Sena is likely to demand a better portfolio from the BJP for Geete and at the same time ask for some more positions in the Cabinet.
-INDIA TODAY
