Barely 48 hours after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar’s rebellion and swearing-in as Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister, the resentment of a section of leaders from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction against Mr. Pawar’s NCP group grew more pronounced as the impending portfolio allocation threatened to snuff out their Ministerial ambitions.
While Mr. Pawar, who attended his first Cabinet meeting after splitting the NCP along with eight other newly-minted NCP Ministers, downplayed any discord between the three parties (BJP, Shinde Sena and Mr. Pawar’s NCP group), Shinde camp spokesperson Bharat Gogawale said the Shinde faction had been “unaware” that Mr. Pawar’s NCP faction would be inducted into the ruling government.
Mr. Gogawale further said that with the coming on board of the NCP, the Eknath Shinde group “had to face reality” and “be satisfied with whatever they now got”.
