Eknath Shinde
It’s been ten days since the Maharashtra election results were out, but a grand alliance government has yet to be formed. It is certain that the BJP will become the CM, but there is suspense about Eknath Shinde joining the government. Shinde wants to leave the chief minister’s post in exchange for support from the home ministry, but the BJP wants to retain the ministry at all costs. Shinde may have been chief minister for two-and-a-half years, but he has no home ministry. In this case, the question is, would Eknath Shinde have joined the government if he had not been offered the home ministry post?
The date for the swearing-in of the new government in Maharashtra has been fixed. The swearing-in ceremony will be held on December 5 at Azad Maidan in Mumbai. In the Mahayut government, all eyes are on Eknath Shinde. If sources are to be believed, Eknath Shinde insisted on the home ministry but the BJP was not willing to make him the home minister. The BJP wants to retain the home ministry and make him the chief minister. Even during Shinde’s two-and-a-half-year rule, the BJP retained the home ministry. The Home Ministry is behind the political tensions between the BJP and the Shiv Sena, for which a resolution has yet to be found.
Fadnavis served as home minister in Shinde government
Along with the Chief Minister, the Home Department is the most important post. In Bihar and other large states, the chief minister personally heads the home ministry. But, this won’t happen in Maharashtra. During the Shinde government, the Home Ministry was headed by Devendra Fadnavis. Before him, even in the Uddhav Thackeray government, the chief minister had no home ministry. In the Uddhav government, NCP quota was used by the Home Ministry. Anil Deshmukh took over as home minister, after which Dilip Walse Patil was appointed as home minister.
In 2014, the Maharashtra government was formed under the leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party, with Devendra Fadnavis becoming the chief minister. Fadnavis kept the Home Ministry and the Chief Minister with him. In this way, Eknath Shinde may have been a strong leader of the Shiv Sena, but he could never shoulder the responsibility of the Home Ministry. Now, the three leaders of Mahayurti are Devendra Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar. Of the three, Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde have the most experience in government. Ajit Pawar was happy with the finance ministry, but Shinde’s hopes of becoming home minister did not materialize.
The BJP is very strong under the leadership of Devendra Fadnavis. As in 2014, Fadnavis wants to retain the home ministry and the post of chief minister, while Shinde seeks to retain the home ministry. Though Shinde, who served as chief minister of the home ministry under Fadnavis for two-and-a-half years, was not able to interfere much, there were instances where the chief minister halted some decisions. In Maharashtra, the home minister is considered the most powerful person in the government. In this context, when Shinde resigned as chief minister of the BJP, he was very firm in his stance on the home ministry.
Sindh firmly supports Home Ministry
Eknath Shinde is firm on the home ministry as it is the department that will give him power after he steps down as chief minister. If the Shiv Sena gets the Home Ministry, then the Shiv Sena will definitely have complete control over the Police Department. In this case, the Chief Minister can exercise veto power over certain decisions. If sources are to be believed, the BJP is not ready to provide help to the home ministry under any circumstances and the Shiv Sena leader is talking about maintaining the Mahayuthi 1.0 model. That’s why there’s a problem with the Home Office. In such a situation, it is yet to be decided whether Shinde himself will become the minister even if he does not get home ministry in the ministerial demarcation?
