MUMBAI: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Friday claimed Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will be replaced and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar could helm the government in future.
"Ajit Pawar could become the CM in future. It is certain that the CM (Eknath Shinde) will be replaced," Raut claimed after Pawar was given the finance and planning ministries.
Ambadas Danve, Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, said time is exacting revenge on the Shiv Sena 40 MLAs who rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray.
Danve said the Shiv Sena MLAs had accused Ajit Pawar of depriving them of funds when they were part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and left the party and today the same person has become the state's finance minister.
Shinde's rebellion last year split the original Shiv Sena and caused the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government, comprising Sena, Congress and NCP.
Shinde then joined hands with the BJP to become the CM in June 2022. Ajit Pawar and his supporters became a part of the ruling coalition this month after breaking away from the Sharad Pawar-founded NCP.
Apart from Ajit Pawar, eight other NCP ministers were also given portfolios, said a statement by CM Shinde's office.
It said Dhananjay Munde has been given Agriculture, while Dilip Walse-Patil will be the new Cooperation minister. The other NCP leaders with newly allocated ministries are Hasan Mushrif (Medical Education), Chhagan Bhujbal (Food and Civil Supplies), Dharmrao Atram (Food and Drugs Administration), Sanjay Bansode (Sports), Aditi Tatkare (Woman and Child Development) and Anil Patil (Relief, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management), it said.