Shiv Sena’s newly-inducted Minister of State Abdul Sattar on Saturday evening denied that he had resigned from his post, even as senior Congress Minister Nitin Raut expressed his disappointment over the denial of plum Public Works Department (PWD) portfolio to him.
Sattar’s denial came amid reports that Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had finalised the distribution of portfolios for his Ministers in the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Government. “The MVA Government may come out with a statement on the allocation of portfolios for the ministers in the State Cabinet either late tonight or tomorrow,” a senior Sena minister close to Uddhav said in the night.
Uddhav held one more round of talks with the leaders of the NCP and Congress which are constituents in the MVA Government to give final touches to the distribution of portfolios in his Cabinet, an exercise he has not been able to carry out since December 30 when he expanded his Cabinet to induct 36 new Ministers – including Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and his son Aditya Thackeray — in his team. Meanwhile, it was the speculation over Sattar’s resignation that came into sharp focus in the State capital all through Saturday.
On a day when the Shiv Sena lost vice president’s post in the Aurangabad Zilla Parishad owing to dissensions within the party, there was a strong speculation in the morning that Sattar had resigned from his post.
However, Shiv Sena spokesperson and MP Sanjay Raut said that there was no information about the resignation of Sattar’s resignation from the State Cabinet.
Talking to media persons here, Raut had said in the afternoon: “There are no differences in the State cabinet. If any minister resigns then resignation is sent normally to the chief minister or Raj Bhawan, but both have no information about it yet".
Later in the evening, Sattar formally denied that he had resigned and said that someone had mischievously spread rumours that he had put in his papers. “I have not resigned. After I meet Chief Minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, I will provide answers to all your questions that the speculation about my resignation that was rife all through the day”.
The speculation broke out after the Shiv Sena’s Shubhangi Kajwe was defeated in the elections to the post of vice president of the Aurangbad Zilla Parishad by a margin of four votes. The elections were held through a secret ballot.
Kajwe’s defeat should in the light of the victory of the Congress candidate and ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Meenatai Shelke in the presidential polls of the Aurangabad Zilla Parishad. Shelke and BJP nominee Devyani Dondgaonkar polled 30 votes in the ZP presidential polls. Later in a draw of lots, Congress’ Shelke was elected as the Aurangabad ZP presidential polls.
In the normal course, Sena’s Kajwe expected to poll 30 votes in the polls to the post of ZP vice president. However, Sena’s Kajwe polled only 28 votes against BJP’s winning candidate L G Gaikwad.
Immediately after the ZP elections, senior Shiv Sena leader and former MP Chandrkant Khaire from Aurangabad blamed Sattar – who is also from Aurangabad – for the Sena’s defeat in the polls. Khaire called Sattar as a “betrayer” and said that he should not be allowed to enter Thackerays’ Mumbai residence “Matoshri”.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader and Minister from Vidarbha region Nitin Raut has made no bones about the crucial PWD portfolio being taken away from the impending distribution of Cabinet portfolios in the MVA government in the state.
Informed sources said that the Congress had decided to allocate the crucial PWD portfolio held by Raut earlier to former chief minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Chavan, while he (Raut) has instead been given relatively insignificant Energy portfolio.
Sources close to him said that Raut was extremely unhappy with the State party leadership that has taken away the PWD portfolio from him and that he would take up the matter with the Congress high command.
In a related development, Congress’ MLA from Jalna Kailash Gorantyal has threatened to resign as a legislator after having been denied a berth in the State Cabinet. On its part, the state Congress leadership initiated efforts to placate Gorantyal to back out on his threat to resign as an MLA.
“ In place of a berth in the state Cabinet, Gorantyal may be given the chairmanship of a state-run corporation,” a senior Congress leader said.