CM Eknath Shinde & Devendra Fadnavis head to Delhi; Ajit Pawar ‘unwell’ but meets NCP ministers

MUMBAI: CM Eknath Shinde and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis left for New Delhi on Tuesday night with sources saying they were slated to meet BJP national president J P Nadda and Union home minister Amit Shah. However, the visit created a flutter in political circles as deputy CM Ajit Pawar was not part of it.
Political observers said the visit comes ahead of talk that there may be another round of expansion of the state cabinet before the winter session of the state legislature.They said the CM and Dy CM may discuss the Maratha, Dhangar and OBC reservation issues amid protests by communities seeking quotas.
There was also speculation that the trip had come amid reports of unhappiness in Shiv Sena and BJP with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP group’s interference in the running of the state government’s various departments held by Shinde Sena or BJP.
Ajit Pawar didn’t attend the cabinet meeting on Tuesday. However, CM Shinde said Ajit was unwell and no different meaning should be drawn from his absence. However, Ajit Pawar held a meeting of NCP ministers at Devgiri, his official residence, on Tuesday evening, giving rise to further speculation that he was unhappy.
NCP MP Supriya Sule from the Sharad Pawar group alleged there was trouble within the alliance government. “Ït is being said that one of the parties in the three-engine government is upset and has met deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis. The honeymoon period is not yet over and already they are upset,” she said.
An observer said, “Cabinet expansion was said to be on the cards, but the formula for the 14 remaining berths hasn’t been decided and there is no consensus. BJP wants 10 berths and wants to give only 2 each to Ajit’s NCP and Shinde Sena. But the two parties want 4 berths each at least.”
Ajit Pawar recently held a slew of meetings in Mantralaya which reportedly left both Shinde and Fadnavis surprised with Ajit giving instructions to bureaucrats on implementation of his directions. If a water resources department official is to be believed, Ajit presided over nine meetings of the irrigation department, took information on status of pending projects, and on resources and funds required. Currently, the water resources department is held by Fadnavis. While the energy department is also held by Fadnavis, Ajit obtained information there as well. This was followed by a review of the civil aviation department held by CM Shinde.