Nagpur: Both Shiv Sena and NCP have not nominated a single minister from Mumbai unlike BJP which chose to induct Ashish Shelar and Mangalprabhat Lodha into the state cabinet.
There are 36 MLAs from Mumbai. The Sena led by Eknath Shinde, despite having 5 MLAs from Mumbai, has not made any of them a minister. However, it has Pratap Sarnaik and Eknath Shinde who represent areas in the wider Mumbai metropolitan region. NCP has one MLA in Sana Malik but she has not been inducted.
The united Sena, being a party based out of Mumbai, always had at least 2-3 ministers from Mumbai.
“With the BMC elections expected to be held early next year, this will have an impact and could help the Sena UBT in claiming that they are the real Sena, at least in Mumbai. Many had believed that Magathane Sena MLA Prakash Surve would be made minister but his name was dropped,” said a political observer.
In the erstwhile Mahayuti govt too, Sena and NCP did not have ministers from Mumbai, but it was not a full cabinet and each party had 9 ministers. But this time, the Mahayuti cabinet has 42 ministers. Interestingly, BJP has also nominated Colaba MLA Rahul Narwekar, who is from Mumbai, as Speaker, effectively giving an opportunity to 3 Mumbai MLAs.
Deputy chief minister Shinde last week held a meeting of Sena MLAs, MPs and key office bearers from the Mumbai region to take stock of preparations for BMC and other local body elections. Shinde has said Sena will contest BMC polls as part of Mahayuti.
“Just like Mahayuti did well in assembly polls in Mumbai, we’ll do well in BMC polls. We’ve done lot of work in Mumbai in the last 2.5 years…CC (cement-concrete) roads, pothole free Mumbai, pollution-free Mumbai…those who controlled BMC didn’t do any work. We will fight the elections as an alliance. There’s a Mahayuti govt in the centre and state and so if there’s a Mahayuti govt in BMC, it will fast-track development,” he had said.
