MUMBAI: A cold war has surfaced between Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Ajit Pawar over the appointments of guardian ministers.
A guardian minister refers to a designated MLA (member of the legislative assembly) in a state government who is assigned the responsibility for overseeing the development of a particular district.
The guardian minister is also the ex-officio chairperson of the District Planning Committee (DPC), which is responsible for addressing issues of common interest between local government bodies and municipalities.
State Congress chief Nana Patole said Ajit is "eyeing the chair" of his boss Shinde.
"The deputies — Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis — are working as super chief ministers, confusing the bureaucrats. The chaos in the present government can explode any day," said Patole.
Patole said in the BJP-led government, 15 districts are yet to get guardian ministers. One minister is the guardian minister for six districts. CM Shinde recently issued a notification asking newly inducted NCP ministers to do the flag hoisting on August 15 at district collectorates.
However, the Ajit Pawar faction expressed displeasure because they expected their appointment as guardian ministers of their own districts would conduct flag hoisting in their districts.