MUMBAI: The dissenting factions in the ruling camp are likely to cause headaches to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Erandol legislature Chimanrao Patil is not happy with Water Supply and Sanitation Minister Gulabrao Patil. He accuses the minister of stepmotherly treatment of his constituency.
Chimanrao Patil and Gulabrao Patil are traditional rivals within the Sena. They don't miss an opportunity to fire salvos at each other.
The MLA claimed that the minister is allocating funds to his rival who belongs to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) instead of helping to nurture his constituency.
Hence, an apparently frustrated Patil demanded action against the minister.
"There is a deliberate attempt to sideline me," he said and demanded the Chief Minister to take action against the minister.
As may be recalled, the 40 MLAs of Shiv Sena under the leadership of Eknath Shinde revolted against Uddhav Thackeray and toppled the government to come to power. But most legislators in the ruling faction feel bitter over unkept promises.
Sidelined in the Uddhav-led Sena, Chimanrao joined the Shinde faction. Unfortunately for him, his political aspirations were foiled when his arch-rival Gulabrao Patil joined the Shinde faction later and went on to become the minister. For Chimanrao, Shinde failed to keep his promise of accommodating him in the cabinet.
Earlier, an independent MLA Ravi Rana made serious allegations against another independent MLA Bacchu Kadu for backing the Shinde-Fadnavis government after pocketing a hefty sum.
Kadu, in turn, demanded that by November 1, Ravi Rana has to either withdraw his statement or he will file a case against him. He said that the kickbacks charges leveled by Rana are serious and there has to be clarifications by chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. He said if CM and DCM fail to address the issue, then there are eight MLAs who support him and he may have to take some drastic decision.
Meanwhile, Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar said the government would hold talks with Kadu and take a decision on accommodating him in the ministry.