MUMBAI: The portfolio allocation of the seven-member Maharashtra Cabinet will be done in a couple of days, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said here on Monday.
While NCP leader Ajit Pawar is supposed to be the deputy Chief Minister in the 'Maha Vikas Aghadi' government, party sources said that the decision on this regard would be taken only after the Winter Session begins.
“Currently all of us are working collectively and looking after all the departments. I hope that the portfolio allocation would be completed in next couple of days,” Thackeray said to the reporters.
The Shiv Sena, NCP, Congress alliance government came to power last week.
The government also cleared the floor test in the two-day special session of the Assembly. However, all the three partners don’t seem to have come to terms over the portfolio allocation.
State Congress President Balasaheb Thorat last week had said that the portfolio allocation would take just a couple of days. However, it appears now that the issue is stretching long.
The NCP has its additional set of problems to deal with the unhappy Ajit Pawar. While the party had earlier decided that Jayant Patil would be the Deputy CM, Pawar’s coup early last week has forced the party leadership to change the decision in the NCP leader’s favour.
“Earlier the plan was to expand the cabinet before the winter session of the assembly. However, now it has been changed and the expansion will now take place only after the winter session. This has also delayed the appointment of DCM,” a senior NPC leader has said.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has made it clear that he has ordered a review of all on-going development projects in the state, including the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train.
“This government is of the common man. Like you asked now, yes, we will review the bullet train (project). Have I stayed the bullet train project like Aarey car shed? No, I haven’t,” Thackeray told reporters here late Sunday night.
He also said that the state government will come out with a white paper on the financial condition of the state.
He said that the state government, which has a debt of nearly Rs five lakh crore, is firm on giving unconditional loan waivers to farmers.
The priorities of the previous BJP-led government in the state - in which his party was a constituent - were not “misplaced”, he said and added that there would be no vendetta politics.