Eknath Shinde to decide cabinet formation soon; need to spend time with family first
Earlier in the day, the Eknath Shinde-led government won the trust vote in the Assembly.
Pointing to the hectic political activities of the last fortnight, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on 4 July said he will need some time before he and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis of BJP discuss the allocation of cabinet portfolios.
Earlier in the day, the Eknath Shinde-led government won the trust vote in the Assembly.
With 164 MLAs voting for the motion of confidence and 99 against it, the Shinde government appears firm in the saddle with the support of the BJP and others.
“Let us breathe properly. It was quite hectic for us. I and Devendra Fadnavis will sit and discuss cabinet portfolios and their allocation. We will also get the allocation vetted from national leaders of the BJP," Shinde told reporters after winning the trust vote.
"We have gone through a lot in the last few days. Give us some time to meet our families. We will decide it (distribution of ministries), he added. When asked whether Shiv Sena MPs are supporting the Shinde camp, he said, “Whether they will vote for the NDA candidate in the Presidential polls or not, it cannot be said now. I will talk about it in the next two days".
Earlier on 30 June, Shinde took oath as the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Along with him, Devendra Fadnavis also took an oath as deputy chief minister of the state. Both the leaders were administered the oath of service by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. However, no other cabinet member took oath on that day.
Meanwhile, after winning the trust vote in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, the Shinde faction of Shiv Sena on Monday night issued a notice to 14 legislators from the Uddhav Thackeray camp for violating a whip issued by Shiv Sena chief whip and Shinde loyalist Bharat Gogawale.
The notice, however, excluded the name of Aaditya Thackeray, son of party chief Uddhav Thackeray, “out of respect".
The whip issued by Gogawale had asked all the MLAs of Shiv Sena to vote for Eknath Shinde in the trust vote. Gogawale was recognised as the chief whip of Shiv Sena by Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narvekar on Sunday, a day before the floor test.
“It is true that we have issued a notice for the violation of the whip to Shiv Sena MLAs who did not vote for CM Shinde. However, we have omitted the name of Aaditya from it out of respect," Gogawale told PTI.
He said all Shiv Sena MLAs, including those in the Uddhav Thackeray camp, had worked together for a long time with Uddhav and Aaditya Thackeray.
"We respect them. But they should have addressed our concerns," he added.
(With inputs from PTI)
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