After news broke of Uddhav Thackeray‘s cabinet colleague and Shiv Sena legislator Abdul Sattar resigning on Saturday morning, the Shiv Sena went into damage control mode to persuade the MLA to change his mind and later told the media that Sattar expressed his displeasure but had not resigned from the ministry.
Former Shiv Sena minister Arjun Kothkar was given the task of pacifying Sattar. Kothkar held a confidential closed-door meeting with Sattar in Aurangabad and succeeded in dissuading him from taking any extreme step.
Kothkar said Sattar has not resigned from the ministry. “Sattar has spoken with the chief minister and our party president. He has scheduled the meeting with him on Sunday in Mumbai where the dispute will be resolved. People should not believe in media,” he added. However, Sattar refused to speak on the issue.
A close aide of Sattar said that he was promised the 'cabinet ministry' by Uddhav Thackeray but was given the minister of state. Besides, the person who worked against him in the state assembly election was chosen as the Zilla panchayat president by the Shiv Sena.
Expressing his displeasure, he said, "that injustice prompted me to quit the Thackeray government."
Uddhav Thackeray has allotted offices and bungalows to his cabinet colleagues but the departments are yet to be announced.
The growing differences among the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government are delaying the decision of allocations of ministries.
However, Ajit Pawar, deputy chief minister said that they have finalised on the decision and has submitted it to the Chief Minister for the final signature and added that the announcement will be made soon.
Sattar was a Congress legislator in Sillod from the Marathwada region. During the preceding 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he defected to join the Shiv Sena from whose ticket he was elected as MLA.
Comments from political leaders poured in on the unfavourable situation.
Girish Bapat, a BJP MP and the former minister said that even before the marriage took place, the groom ran away from the Thackeray government.
Pravin Darekar, Leader of Opposition, in the State Legislative Council, alleged that the differences among three parties of Maha Vikas Aghadi had come out to the public in the beginning. “The three-party governments will not be a stable government. People had voted in favour of BJP and the Shiv Sena, but the Shiv Sena had not only cheated the BJP but the mandate of the people as well,” said Darekar.
While an NCP leader on the condition of anonymity said that the resignation of Abdul Sattar will not have any adverse impact on their government. “We have got more than enough numbers to run the government. We have the support of 169 legislators against the majority of 145. The government is stable. It is natural in three-party government differences will occur in time and again. But this will not have any impact on the stability of the government. We are committed for the full five-year term government,” he added.
Earlier, another Shiv Sena leader and MLA Bhaskar Jadhav from Konkan expressed his unhappiness. He said he was promised the ministry but word of promise was not honoured.
The list of disgruntled leaders seems to be growing in the Thackeray government.
Moreover, Congress leaders are not all happy with the allocations of ministries. They expressed their displeasure by adding that they were being given the less important portfolios.